1 1 MM.II 

I! 



.'"■■■ 

;;; ; 

; iilii iiiLEiliii' ; 



. 



- - ■ i 
■ 



- . 
■ 

■ 

- 



if 

turn ii u w 

■ 

- 
- 






[J jOM.Uj{H'ti 



■ 

■ 

; ' ; ■ "' « Jul v • 
- 

! I Mil ] 

1 , '' " ' i 



: 
■■•:!!-=:!its;;{:::::;-;.; : ;; 

- 



; ; *■ -IS !■!&'■!■! ■'."■! I !" , «» ! - ' 



^B^mBmi 



' 



1: i S!i : " • •«■'!!■»» ! • IP:? ,! 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Chap.M.j2£ 

SheljQ-JL^''. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 





HISTORY 



OF THE 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT, 



RHODE ISLAM) VOLUNTEERS, 



IN THE 



WAR OF THE REBELLION. 

BY R. W. ROCK. 



PUBLISHED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE 

ELEVENTH REGIMENT VETERAN ASS 



PROVIDENCE 



PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS. 

1881. 




V R E F A C E . 



The history in the following pages has been prepared by the 

undersigned, under the direction of a committee appointed by the 
Eleventh Rhode Island Veteran Association, consisting of Com- 
rades William A. Mowry, Robert Fessenden, Ansel D. Xickerson, 
Hopkins B. Cady and John C. Thompson. 

It aims to give a simple and succinct narrative of the rise and 
progress of the regiment from the first beginnings of recruiting to 
the time of mustering out from the service of the United States. 

The writer has drawn freely from the following sources of infor- 
mation, viz.: 

The letters of Chaplain J. B. Gould to the Providence Journal, 
of A. D. Nickerson to the Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle, of 
" Equipment" to the Providence Journal, and the private diaries 
and accounts of Comrades Mowry, Parkhurst, Fessenden, Stone, 
Cay. Bartlett, W. E. Simmons, Bovven, YVestcott. and others. 
beside the letters of R. W. Rock to the Providence Evening 
Press. 

It would not be surprising if, after this history appears in 
print, many interesting facts should be forthcoming. It is to be 
hoped that any information hereafter brought to light may he 
carefully collected and preserved in manuscript, if not in print. 

J. C. Thompson. 



CONT E N T s 



PART I. 



Introduction. 

Enthusiasm in Recruiting, 2. 
War Meetings, .~>. 
Filling the Companies, 6. 

Companies I and K, lit. 
Camp Stevens, 12. 
Life at Camp Stevens, 12. 
The Departure. 15. 
Reception at New York, 17. 
The Sail to South Amboy, 17. 
By Rail to Baltimore, 18. 
At Baltimore. 19. 
In Washington, 20. 
Camp at East Capitol Hill, 20. 
March to Chain Bridge, 21. 
First Camp on the " Sacred 
Soil," near Chain Bridge. 22. 
A Speech from the Colonel. 23. 
Fatigue Duty, 24. 
A Sabbath in Camp, 20. 
An Essay on Army Mules. 28. 
And Army Horses, 29. 
Ordered into Cowden's Brigade, 

Change of Camp, 30. 
" The Qld Persimmon Tree." 31. 
The Maine Law, 32. 
Up in the Morning Early. 32. 
On the March to a new Camp, 33. 
Miner's Hill. 34. 



Life at Miner's Hill. 35. 

Visitors— Brigade Review. 35. 

Common Life, 36. 

Letter-writing Sunday, :;7. 

Division Review, 38. 

The Drum Band, 38. 

Contrasts. 39. 

Winter Quarters, 41. 

Sickness in Camp, 41. 

Picket duty ami the First Snow 
Storm, 42. 

Changes of Officers and Promo- 
tions, 4.;. 

Col. Metcalf's Farewell, 43. 
Cay ami Grave, 44. 

Going to Church on Picket. 4t;. 

The AVood worth Family. 47. 

Picket Experiences and Enjoy- 
ments on the Lewinsville 
Road, 51. 
Gen. Cowden's Headquarters— 
Other Camps— Gen. Cowden, 
57. 

An Unpleasant Uncertainty. 59. 

Boxes from Home, (30. 

Who (iocs There? 60. 

The Weather — Dissolving 

Views, 61. 
Baked Beans and Roast Beef, 61. 



\ 1 



histoid or TIIK 



■■ Thanksgiving," <>•'!. 

The Regimental Hospital ami 
Brigade Changes, 66. 

Skirmish and other Drill, 67. 

Brigade Drill— Intense Cold,(»8. 

The Chapel, 69. 

The Weather — Bathing— Quar- 
ters for Boxes, 70. 

Various Events, 71. 

1 teath of Hospital Stew art! 
Pen ear, 78. 



Merry Christmas in Camp, 74. 
Mills' Cross Roads, 7f>. 
Variety— New Sear, 78 
Rewiew of Three M our h>' Ser- 
vice, !!•. 
New Year's ami NewOrders,81. 
Changes and Orders to Move, 82 
Preparations tor Moving, 
Selection of a ('amp. 84. 
The Mareh from Miner's Hill. So. 



PART 11 



( 'amp Mefeall. S7. 

Quarters— Guard dutj . x ^ 

Col. Horatio Rogers and Camp 

Metcalf, 89. 
More Bad Weather— Improved 

Quarters, 92. 
Pay-day and Changes, 93. 
Void Weather — Home Remem- 

hranees — Mnsie. 14. 
<>nr Second Colonel's Farewell. 

96. 
Improvements — Visitors — < >ur 

Hospital — Changes, 96. 
Camp Convalescent, 99. 
The Lost Sheep—Camp Distri- 
bution and other Camps. 108. 
Rev. Dr. Charles Hall's House. 

104. 
Amusing Scenes — Prizes and 

Duties. 106. 
Trades and Games, I - 



Health — Promotions —Library 
Visitors, 108. 

Awake and Asleep. 109. 

Presentations, 1 10. 

Our Brass Band, 112. 

Guard duty at Convalescent 

Camp. 118. 
\ Storm — Return of the Wan- 
derers — Promotions, 115. 

( >ur Third Colonel — Rumors, l L6. 

Heath— A Storm — First Appear- 
ance of Col. Church — Six 
Months' Service, 118. 

Fairfax Seminary Hospital. 119. 

Discipline — Pay — Marching 
Orders. 121. 

Farewell to Camp Convalescent 
— Welcome the Potomac and 
Chesapeake. 122. 

Off tor Norfolk and Suffolk— 
Flag of the Cumberland, 125. 



P VRT 111. 



Suffolk and the Black water. 
At the Front. 127. 
Whatthe Pelvis tried to do- 
Capture of a Rebel Battery, 129. 
The Routine of the Eleventh, 
131. 



Tin- Situation— The Eleventh 

Ready, 132. 
The Crow - \ s t S uth Quay 

Battery, 133. 
Heath — Inspection —Statistics, 

136. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



VI] 



Rain — Water Couch — Dignita- 
ries, 138. 

More Light Wanted — Contra- 
bands — Reconnoissance of the 
One Hundred and Ninety- 
ninth New York. 139. 

A Disastrous Reconnoissance, 
140. 

How the Siege of Suffolk was 
Raised, 141. 

An Illumination, 143. 

Rebel Rifle Pits,— Rebel Relies 
and Seeesh People, 140. 

People we Met, 147. 

Routine — •" Camp Perry " — Pig- 
gerel, 148. 

In the Field — The Deserted 
House, 150. 

The New Camp — Variety, 153. 

Sunday — White Trash — Sere- 
nade to Gen. Corcoran. 154. 

Reported Disaster to the Elev- 
enth—False Alarm and March 
to Windsor, 155. 

On the March — Windsor, 157. 

The Eleventh in the Advanc( — 
Skirmish with the Rebels, 158. 

Pack to Windsor — Cooking Ra- 
tions — Those Hams. 166.. 

Barrett's Plantation, Hi7. 

Who was in Command? 109. 

Wonder of the Slaves at the 
Music of the Band. 169. 

Orderly Foraging, 170. 



A Government Team becomes a 
Chariot of Freedom. 171. 

End of the Raid, 172. 

Result, 17->. 

Some other things that we Ob- 
served, 174. 

Routine — Attendance at the 
Episcopal Church — Dress-pa- 
rade, 17."). 

(on. Terry — Great Service in 
the Methodist Church, 176. 

Contraband Service — Another 
Shampaign, 178. 

Second Raid to the Blackwater, 
179. 

Reflections, is:'.. 

Away for Yorktown, 184. 

Camp at Yorktown, 185. 

The March for Williamsburg. 
186. 

Homeward Bound. 188. 

Another Death — Waiting for the 
Final Order. 189. 

Nearest to Richmond. 190. 

On Duty after Date, 190. 

For Home. Sweet Home. 191. 

The Stowage of the ••John 
Rice," l»i. 

A Sad Event, 192. 

The Glorious Fourth, 193. 

Reception of the Eleventh Reg- 
iment, 107. 

Appendix, 201. 

The Twelfth Regiment, 217. 



THE ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



PART I. 
Miner's Hill. 

In that dark period of the war of the rebellion, between 
the seven days' battles before Richmond and the battle of 
Antietam, the temper and patience of the loyal north were 
tried to the utmost. The practical change of commanders 
from McClellan to Pope, who was placed in command of the 
Army of Virginia, which at first raised the hopes of the 
naturally hopeful, brought only bitter disappointment and 
dissatisfaction in the final result. The government saw the 
need of a far larger army, and, rising to the emergency, 
called for three hundred thousand three years' troops. In 
obedience also to a popular theory which suddenly spruno- 
up and rapidly gained ground, that a large force of nine 
months' men could readily be obtained, and if put into the 
field at once would probably bring the war to a close, three 
hundred thousand nine months' volunteers were called for, 
and a proclamation was made that if by the 15th of August, 
1862, the necessary quota from each State was not forth- 
coming, a draft would be resorted to. 

As the condition of affairs grew more threatening, and 
the prospect of a speedy triumph over the rebels seemed 
more unlikely, the people at home began to look matters 
squarely in the face. The public journals presented the 



2 HISTORY OF THE 

exigencies of the situation in the plainest language, and 
urged the people of all classes to prompt and continuous 
effort. 

The single act of the government in calling out an addi- 
tional force of six hundred thousand troops astonished and 
measurably shook the faith of the enemy in their final tri- 
umph « while at the same time the spirit of the Northern 
people gave token that, although the Union army had been 
foiled in its most important movements, they were by no 
means disposed to give up the contest. 

In this juncture the whole population of Rhode Island 
awakened to a clearer sense of the magnitude of the work, 
and began to stir each other up, until, as war meeting after 
war meeting was held and an almost universal disposition on 
the part of many to make sacrifices was manifested, the 
excitement rose to fever heat. 

Rhode Island's quota of the six hundred thousand volun- 
teers called for. was twenty-four hundred men. and the 
Eleventh and Twelfth regiments of nine months' men, raised 
and equipped in a very brief period, formed a large part of 
that quota. 

It may as well be noted here that though in the language 
of the government, the Eleventh and Twelfth nine months' 
regiments were accepted "in lieu of drafted men." and. in 
the distribution of bounties after the war closed, were so 
treated, every man was a volunteer. In fact. most, if not 
all of them, wovdd have scorned to have entered the service 
in any other way. The class of men that composed the 
Eleventh regiment could not have been obtained by draft, 
and the authorities at Washington were only too ready t«» 
accept them, though Congress, notwithstanding the efforts 
of our Senators and Representatives to prevent it. discounted 
their more valuable services on the technical plea that they 
vvere accepted in the place of drafted men. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 3 

Iii an account of the services of the Eleventh regiment of 
Rhode Island volunteers in the "Great American Conflict," 
we shall tell the story of an arduous service hut not of a 
regiment celebrated for its many battles with the enemy, for 
they were not permitted by the controlling powers to enter 
into any general engagement. A strong desire was mani- 
fest, however, on the part of each of its commanders to be 
ordered to the front. An earnest and special endeavor was 
made by its second colonel to induce the War Department 
in Washington to execute this order, that the laurels of war 
might be obtained by a regiment whose morale has been 
rarely excelled. But, as evidence will be given in these 
pages, the Eleventh was retained by the government for 
three months for a service which no other regiment alone 
could have performed, and the fighting honors, which both 
officers and men were anxious to win, were denied them. 
They were sent to the front in the last three months of their 
service, when, in April, 1863, Longstreet with an estimated 
force of thirty thousand men attempted the capture of Suf- 
folk. They rendered efficient service in that siege and in 
the pursuit of the retreating enemy to the Blackwater river. 
Subsequently they were employed at Yorktown and Wil- 
liamsburg. For all this they received the hearty approval 
of the generals commanding. 

ENTHUSIASM IN RECRUITING. 

On the day that President Lincoln issued his call for three 
hundred thousand three years' men, and three hundred thou- 
sand nine months' men, August 4th, 1862, a very large and 
enthusiastic war meeting was held in Market Square, Provi- 
dence, presided over by the Mayor of the city, Hon. Jabez 
C. Knight, supported by a large number of Vice-Presidents 



4 HISTORY OF THE 

from the most prominent men of the city and State. Ad- 
dresses were made by the following distinguished citizens of 
Rhode Island and eminent speakers from abroad: Gov. 
Sprague, Bishop (dark, President Sears, of Brown Univer- 
sity ; Rev. A. L. Stone, of Boston, Mass. ; John L. Swift, 
Esq., of Boston. Mass. ; Gen. Isaac Rodman, Rev. Harris 
Howard, Gen. C. C. Van Zandt, Rev. Augustus Woodbury, 
Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, Hon. Abraham Payne, ex-Mayor 
Rodman, and Col. Nicholas Van Slyck. 

Thus began a new spirit of recruiting in behalf of old and 
new regiments, which did not abate until Rhode Island had 
contributed more than her share of soldiers ready to fight 
the battles of the Union. This grand mass meeting was 
followed in a few weeks by a succession of meetings in the 
Academy of Music in Providence, supplemented by meetings 
in the various wards of the city and by still other meetings 
held in Roger Williams Hall with special reference to rais- 
ing companies by the Young Men's Christian Association. 
In conjunction with these efforts large numbers of citizens 
gave themselves up to the business of encouraging enlist- 
ments ; places of business were closed for a period at three 
o'clock in the afternoon, recruiting officers with drummers 
and titers paraded the streets, and there was one grand patri- 
otic revival. The spirit to enter the country's service in her 
hour of danger ran from ln-art to heart, and the good impulse 
rapidly filled the quota of the State. 

The wealth of the city and towns was laid upon the altar 
of patriotism, in order that provision might be made for the 
families and friends of those who enlisted. The fact that 
the government was about to draft if volunteers were not 
immediately forthcoming, brought into prominence the 
thought of the hardships that many families must undergo 
if their chief support were taken away, and this raised the 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 5 

question at once, what should be done by those who remained 
behind to aid the families of those who would either volun- 
teer or else be compelled to enter the army? What should 
the State, the city, and what should individuals do?* As a 
draft was greatly deprecated, bounties were offered by the 
towns and by the State to encourage men to enter the regi- 
ments whose ranks had been thinned by battle and disease, and 
when recruiting for nine months' men began, and it became 
apparent that many men who had families Avere willing to 
enlist from patriotic motives, the enthusiasm to make this 
provision was equal to the emergency, and took tangible 
form in a succession of war meetings, before alluded to, 
held in the Academy of Music. 

WAR MEETINGS, 

The first of these was held September 8th, 1862. A large 
audience assembled, eloquent addresses were made and a 
committee was appointed, with instructions to report at an 
adjourned meeting one week from date, what should be 
done. The second meeting was held September loth, and 
the report of the committee recommended that four dollars 
per week should be provided for each family and that seventy 
thousand dollars should be raised by voluntary subscription. 
The enthusiasm of this meeting reached its height when one 

* Bounties were offered by the different towns in the State, varying in amount 
from one hundred to five hundred dollars for each recruit. In some towns an 
additional sum per week was added for the families of enlisted men. This 
action of the towns produced dissatisfaction, and Governor Sprague convened 
the Legislature to consider this and other matters pertaining to the war. The 
Legislature at that session voted from the State, a bounty of one hundred and 
fifty dollars for each nine months' volunteer. The citizens of Providence by 
subscription provided eighty-five dollars for each recruit. The City Council 
voted four dollars per week for the families of the men, all of which, with the 
government pay for nine months, amounted, for the men enlisted from Provi- 
dence, to $50$. 



I) HISTORY OF THE 

of the speakers* began with the remark, W, I am in favor 
of the marriage of muscle and money." and. at the conclu- 
sion of his address, which called forth the wildest applause, 
a well-known wealthy citizen f stepped to the front of the 
platform and offered one thousand dollars. This was fol- 
lowed by another offer of like amount, and still another. 
until twenty-four or twenty-five thousand dollars had been 
pledged. A committee was then appointed to solicit further 
contributions, and the meeting was adjourned for one week. 
At that meeting, September 22d, the committee reported that 
more than sixty-nine thousand dollars had been secured. 
With this assurance to the men who were ready to take their 
lives in their hands and do battle for their country, the ten 
companies of the Eleventh Rhode Island were almost imme- 
diately tilled and the Twelfth regiment was well advanced. 
The war meetings in the various wards began September 
10th, and were continued from week to week, enthusiasm 
being aroused by stirring speeches and lively martial music. 
Pawtucket and Central Falls held similar meetings and con- 
tributed two companies tor this regiment. 

FILLING THE COMPANIES. 

As nearly as we can ascertain, recruiting for the Rhode 
Island Eleventh began in August. 1862, and the honor of 
enlisting the first recruits belongs to Lieut. William Stone and 
Lieut. M. O. Darling. Lieut. Stone's recruiting station was 
at Hoyle Tavern. These recruits were sent to Camp Stevens, 
on Dexter Training Ground, in Providence. Lieut. Stone 
having experience in drill, was assigned by Capt. A. C. 

* Rev. Sidney Dean. 

f Hon. Henry Lippitt. The same gentleman also offered a thousand dollars 
to the ward that would raise the first company. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. i 

Eddy, who was in command of this camp, to the duty of 
organizing and drilling the different companies as they arrived 
on the ground. 

Companies A, C, D, E, G, and H were recruited in the 
third, fourth, fifth, seventh, sixth, second, and first wards 
of the city of Providence, under the stimulus of meetings 
held in the different ward-rooms, and in a number of instances, 
in the open air, addressed by prominent officials, business, 
professional and military men, — some just from the fire of 
conflict and at home to recruit their regiments. Street parades 
were made and bands of music added their inspiration. 

The headquarters of Company A, of the third ward, was 
in their ward-room on South Main street. War meetings 
were constantly held in the ward-room, and in the open air 
at the junction of South Main and AVickenden streets. 
Shepard's Cornet Band furnished music on several of these 
occasions. 

The war meetings of the fourth ward were held in their 
ward-room, then located where the City Hall now stands. 
The recruits of the fourth and fifth wards formed Company 
C, Capt. Charles H. Parkhurst, and prominent in the efforts 
for recruiting were Messrs. Parkhurst, Davidson and C. F. 
Phillips. 

The fifth ward pitched a recruiting tent on the old training 
ground adjoining the Beneficent Church, now called Abbott 
Park. Open-air war meetings were held there and in the 
ward-room, addressed by speakers aglow with enthusiasm. 

Company D, Capt. Gordon, was composed mainly of 
seventh- ward recruits, and Ave believe a portion of those 
recruited for the sixth ward. Lively and enthusiastic war 
meetings were held in the ward-room. 

Company p] was formed of sixth ward recruits. Messrs. 
William E. Stone and M. O. Darling recruited two hundred 



8 HISTORY OF THE 

and eight men for the Eleventh and Twelfth regiments. 
Their tents were at the Hoyle Tavern and at the junction of 
Broadway and High street, in Olneyville. James H. Hud- 
son also recruited here. To encourage enlistments war 
meetings were held in the ward-room and in the open air at 
the junction of Broadway and High street. This company 
received the one thousand dollars offered by Hon. Henry 
Lippitt to the company that should first have its full comple- 
ment of enlisted men. The full number was obtained on 
Wednesday, September 24th, 1862, at eleven o'clock. Com- 
pany G tilled their quota at twelve o'clock on the same day, 
but Mr. Lippitt decided that the award belonged to Com- 
pany E. 

Company (i, Capt. Thomas, formed the second ward com- 
pany. A recruiting tent was pitched on the east side of the 
Great Bridge. Enthusiastic war meetings were held to 
encourage recruiting. It was but an hour behind Company 
E in enlisting the requisite number of men. 

The first ward company, II, was recruited by Capt. Joel 
Metcalf, whose office was in a building where the bell-tower 
now stands at the junction of Benefit and North Main streets. 
Open-air war meetings were held in that locality, and a suc- 
cession of spirited meetings to stimulate enlistments were 
held in the ward-room. Martial music aided to increase the 
enthusiasm. 

In the various wards, war meetings were held in the after- 
noon as well as in the evening. Street parades were made, 
;i- before stated, places of business were (dosed in the latter 
part of September after three o'clock in the afternoon, that 
the people might give themselves more fully to the work. 

Companies B ami F were recruited from Pawtucket, east 
side, and Smithtield or Central Falls, and from Pawtucket, 
west side, then in North Providence. Great exertions were 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 9 

made by these towns to fill their quotas, and much enthusiasm 
was finally awakened in the effort. 

Capt. C. W. Thrasher and Lieut. Thomas Moies were 
chiefly, instrumental in recruiting Company B in Pawtucket 
and Central Falls. Charles H. Scott, afterwards sergeant- 
major of the Eleventh, was a recruiting officer and recruited 
for this company. 

Capt. Taft and Lieut. Beatty had a recruiting rendezvous 
at Armory Hall, Pawtucket, and enlisted men for Company 
F, called then the North Providence Company. 

Enthusiasm in raising men for the nine months' regiments 
grew somewhat slowly, but increased greatly in the month of 
September. A Avar meeting was held August 22d, addressed 
by C. B. Farnsworth, Rev. Dr. Blodgett, W. W. Blodgett, 
C. W. Thrasher, and others, but no great interest was 
awakened. This was followed early in September by a grand 
military display and parade, in which five companies partici- 
pated. A succession of war meetings were held in Armory 
Hall, one of the largest meetings being addressed by Gov. 
Sprague, Francis W. Miner, Rev. Drs. Clapp and Swain, 
Revs. Lyman Whiting and Sidney Dean, Dr. G. S. Stevens, 
Chaplain Woodbury, William M. Rodman, Major Edwin 
Metcalf and Capt. William B. Weeden. 

At this meeting it was voted to meet for drill on the com- 
mon at three o'clock in the afternoon and to close stores and 
places of business at the same hour until the quotas of North 
Providence, Pawtucket and Smithfield were filled. 

Companies B and F were fall on or before the lUtli of 
September, 1862. which was five days earlier than the first 
of the ward companies of Providence was reported full. A 
company fund of one thousand dollars was provided for 
Company B. by the patriotic citizens of Pawtucket and Cen- 
tral Falls. Provision was also made for the families of 
volunteers. 



10 HISTORY OF THE 

COMPANIES I AND K. 

Messrs. Joseph H. Kendrick, William A. Mowry, Albeit 
C. Howard and Edwin II. Burlingame were the first movers 
in the formation of Companies I and K. The plan Of 
raising companies from the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation was suggested by Messrs. Kendrick and Mowry, after 
the former had been considering the question of enlisting in 
a company organized for the Twelfth regiment by Capt. 
C. Henry Alexander. 

At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the Young 
Men's Christian Association held September 2d. 1862, to 
consider this subject, J. II. Kendrick was appointed recruit- 
ing officer, and recruiting began in the lecture-room of the 
Association. For some days little progress was made, but 
when it became known that the city would make provision 
for the families of those who enlisted, and that the City 
Council and State made further provision, Companies I and 
K were tilled in two or three dnvs. and a part of Capt. 
Cheney's company for the Twelfth regiment. 

This movement was stimulated by large and spirited war 
meetings in Roger Williams Hall, on the 11th of Septem- 
ber, in the afternoon, and on the loth of September, in the 
evening. 

At the meeting on the 11th. addresses were made by 
ex-Mayor Rodman, Dr. Swain. Bishop Clark. Revs. Lyman 
Whiting and ,1. B.Gould, Rev. Mr. Keyser and Rev. Sid- 
ney Dean, and at the close of the meeting it was announced 
that at the next meeting the speakers would all be volunteers. 

The second meeting was held September loth, in the 
evening. John Kingsbury. Esq.. presided. Addresses were 
made by W. A. Mowry. J. II. Kendrick. II. E. Simmons. 
Edward C. Coggeshall and E. 1*. Brown. The Orpheus 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 11 

Club sang spirited patriotic songs, and ''Joe Greene" added 
the charm of his bugle. 

As an illustration of the character of the addresses made 
by volunteers in the Association companies, we add a brief 
account, not reported in the daily papers at the time : 

At this meeting a gentleman* who had that day enlisted, 
was called out and spoke substantially as follows: "It is 
clearly the duty of some to enlist and devote themselves to 
their country. The unity of the nation must be preserved. 
One section of the country must not be permitted to conspire, 
in the interest of slavery, for the overthrow of this great 
republic, and carry their conspiracy to a successful issue. 
>\ e are to-day making for future ages an important chapter 
in the history of the world's advancement. Who shall 
volunteer for the war? Many say, 'I can go, because I 
have no wife and children to leave at home.' Fellow 
citizens, I wish to say to you, to-day, that I shall go to the 
war because I have a wife and two boys to leave at home. 
I am unwilling that, in the years to come, when this chapter 
in our country's history has been closed up, when those boys 
of mine shall ask me, ' Father, what did you do in the 
war? ' I shall be obliged to say, 'nothing ; I staid at home.' 
No patriotic father who can go, should be obliged to tell his 
boys that." 

As might be expected, this short speech "brought down 
the house." Many persons to-day remember that remark. 

Rev. James C. White, pastor of the Free Congregational 
Church, Roger Williams Hall, delivered an address to the 
Young Men's Christian Association volunteers, Sunday, 
September 21st, taking for his text, "Cursed be he that 
doetli the work of the Lord deceitfully," from Jeremiah 
48th chapter, 10th verse. 

m apt. William A. Mowry. 



1- HISTORY OF THE 

On the 23d <>t' September, these companies marched to 
Camp Stevens headed by the Mayor, I Ion. Jabez C. Knight, 
Col. Metcalf and Chaplain Gould, all mounted, accompanied 
by Shepard's Cornet Hand, citizens and friends. 

CAMP STEVENS. 

On the 10th day of September, 1862, a camp was formed 
by order of the Adjutant General of the Rhode Island 
militia, on Dexter Training Ground in Providence, and as 
fast as recruited, most of the enlisted men of the Eleventh 
regiment proceeded to that rendezvous. Capt. A. C. Eddy 
was commandant oi' this camp, which was named Camp 
Stevens, in honor of Gen, Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who had 
recently fallen in battle. 

As the companies were tilled thev. in some instances. 
voted tor their own commissioned and non-commissioned 
officers, and in most, it' not all eases, these preferences were 
respected by the Governor and authorities in command. 
Numbers ot' the men who were enlisted in August or in the 
early part of September, were not required to go into camp 
at once, and therefore it was not until the close of September 
that all the men were on the ground. 

LIFE AT CAMP STEVENS. 

From the day (4' their arrival at Camp Stevens until their 
departure, the men were drilled in the duties and evolutions 
of the soldier : but the boys could always manage to mix some 
fun with the sober duties of e\ cry day. There was guard 
and police duty : squad, company and battalion drill, and 
drill in the manual oi arms for beginners : for a large 
proportion could not readily handle a musket, but could far 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 13 

more easily smoke a pipe. Then came the inevitable dress- 
parade, at which, in due time, the Eleventh became unusu- 
ally expert. In all these exercises the improvement conse- 
quent upon continual practice was marked and satisfactory. 
Many had their first experience in dm win-- and eating 
government rations, in wearing government clothes, in 
washing at the pump upon a cool morning, in running the 
guard at night and stealing hack in the gray dawn, and in 
all the pranks incidental to such a life. 

Every day brought a great influx of visitors, and the fre- 
quent greetings of friends when the men were off" duty, and 
many a comfort and remembrance, cheered the hoys on these 
occasions. There were ludicrous experiences, too, which 
might he related if space would permit. Who can forget a 
memorable rainy Sunday, when everything was afloat, when 
faces were long and sleep at uight decidedly uncomfortable, 
with enough of hardship to give a hint of what might he 
expected in actual service. On this same day. the 28th of 
September, the regiment attended divine service in the 
RIathewson Street Methodist Church, and listened to a dis- 
course from the Rev. Sidney Dean, whose text on that occa- 
sion was from Isaiah list chapter, 9th and 10th verses: 
'Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast 
thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be net 
dismayed; for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea. 
I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand 
of my righteousness*" Topic: The mission of the loyal 
American soldier, and the qualifications necessary to ensure 
his Success. 

The regiment performed honorable duty on the 4th of 
October as escort at the funeral obsequies of Gen. [saac 
Rodman, of South Kingstown, an unselfish patriot who 
beofan his career as a soldier by raising a company of volun- 



1 1 



IIISTOKY OF INK 



teers for the Second Rhode [sland regiment. lie was chosen 
their captain and fought bravely at the first battle of Hull 
Run. lie followed the fortunes of Burnside in his North 
Carolina campaign, and in ten months rose to the rank of 
brisradier general. At t In* battle of Antietam he fell, mor- 
tally wounded, while acting as commander of the Third 
Division of the Ninth Corps. 

The hist Sunday in Cam}) Stevens was passed in therecep- 
tion of visitors and of friends generally. In the morning 

the Christian Association companies held religious services, 
to which all were invited. 

Monday, October 6th, the day of departure, was a day of 
ureal preparation and confusion ; of business transactions ; 

of the reception of a few last comforts and mementos with 

which to overload knapsacks ; of the mustering into the 

United States service, by Capt. Silvey, of the Tinted states 
army ; of the presentation of an elegant set of colors to the 
regiment, by the ladies of Providence; of receivings por- 
tion of tin* bounty ; of farewells and sad partings with those 

who were near and dear, and with whom some would meet 
no more on earth. 

Nothing marred the history of the regiment lip to this 
date hut the failure to receive all the money that had been 
promised to the men before their departure. This failure to 

receive the promised bounty led Company (J, parts of Compa- 
nies II, A and E, to remain behind, rather than trust the 
promises of those authorities in which all the other compa- 
nies were ready to put confidence. Those who remained 
behind until the next day ought not. however, to be greatly 
blamed tor demanding an exact fulfillment of the contract. 






ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 15 

THE DEPARTURE. 

With knapsack and banner and drum, after a deal of 
preparation, we left Camp Stevens as the sun descended below 
the horizon, and marched to the cars at Olneyville. The 
men, in good spirits, went singing on their way, and multi- 
tudes of people, of both sexes, friends and citizens, thronged 
the line of march and waved and cheered them on. The 
short march over, after a tedious waiting for the cars, and a 
necessarily long time in getting places, all were seated ; the 
signal was given, and a long train of twenty or more cars 
rolled out of sight of home and friends ; the great back bur- 
dens, unwittingly overloaded by kind friends and the boys 
themselves, resting on the bottom of the cars. 

The men went onward, in a jolly mood, till calming 
down as night advanced, wearied by the exertions and excite- 
ment of the day. they were constrained to sleep as best they 
might. 

About midnight we reached Groton, and in due time 
marched on board the steamer Commonwealth. Up to the 
time of reaching New York, next morning, no trouble had 
been experienced on account of scarcity of rations, or of 
their inferior quality. In Camp Stevens we had been well 
supplied with good and substantial food. We could not tell 
of meat so lively that it crawled out of our haversacks and 
crawled overboard ; nor of bread so hard that it must be 
broken with a hammer before it could be eaten. A history 
of the regiment that preceded us must suffice for tales of that 
sort. Our trip thus far was altogether too pleasant to lead 
us to complain very loudly about anything. We only men- 
tion the fact that Companies I and K, Capts. Kendrick and 
Mowry, and others, were unexpectedly treated to a deck 
passage through some lack of preparation, or misfortune, or 



16 



HISTORY OF THE 



mismanagement of some sort. This was not the way the 
boys were accustomed to go t<> New York. Owing to dirt 
and bad smells in some localities it was very disagreeable, 
and to some it seemed unbearable. Complaints about this 
were as abundant as leaves in autumn and as sharp as the 
crack of a rifle. It is pleasanl to know, however, that our 
excellent and estimable Colonel and our gentlemanly Cap- 
tains came in for no share of such maledictions. It seemed 
evident, however, that we were not considered second-class 
passengers, for the men were allowed all the privileges of 
other passengers, not the least of which were the line accom- 
modations for washing, which these splendid boats afforded, 
to which we did ample justice in the morning. 

There was, however, enough to amuse as well as to com- 
plain of. As the time of retiring came, every man cast 
about for the best spot ; the principal aim of some being to 
get good air. Hard beds were not feared, but desirable places 
for locating them were at a premium. Here was an Orderly 
wedged into the smallest possible space on the deck side of 
the ladies' cabin, while another gentleman, well known in 
educational circles, lav down in the most approved style on 
the other side. Two narrow passages on each side of this 
door, sufficient, if one took off all superfluous clothing, to 
accommodate two persons, were held above par, and the rev- 
erend gentleman who occupied one />"/, declared it could not 
be parted with short of a "quarter." Friends at home 
would have lauglied heartily if they could have seen this 
group of a dozen or more, and known who they were. 
lint sleep soon overcame us. and all passed into the land of 
dreams to awake quite refreshed in the morning. The floor 
of the gentlemen's cabin and the saloon were tilled with men 
who passed the eight as comfortably, certainly, as in their 
tents 011 the camp ground. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 17 

We reached New York soon after nine o'clock. A bright 
morning sun made glorious the landscape as Ave passed up 
the Narrows. As we approached the city we had a fine view 
of the monster " Great Eastern." The men were in excel- 
lent humor and ready for another day's journey. 

RECEPTION AT NEW YORK. 

Immediately upon landing Ave proceeded to the steamer 
Joseph Belknap, which was to take us in due time to South 
Ambov. Here the regiment deposited their knapsacks and 
marched back to Castle Garden barracks. The sun was 
warm and grew still hotter as the day advanced. A detail 
of New York police watched over us while Ave waited as 
patiently as possible for our breakfast. A donation from 
somebody, consisting of bad ham, soup, bad coffee and bad 
bread, utterly unfit for a Rhode Island soldier or any one else, 
and wholly unworthy of. if not disgraceful to, the great 
and wealthy city of New Y^ork, was served to us on this 
occasion. Fruits, including peaches and other refreshments, 
were freely bought by the men to supply the place of these 
detestable rations. We gained a good reputation in this 
brief stay, for the New Y^ork police declared us the best 
behaved regiment that had passed through their city. 

THE SAIL TO SOUTH AMBOY. 

At one o'clock Ave were again on board the Joseph Belknap, 
and soon on our way to South Amboy, The sail was fine 
all the way, and proved one of the richest sweets among the 
bitter that must mingle on such a journey. Doavii NeA\- 
Y^ork bay we passed, and along the beautiful shore of Staten 
Island, lined with its delightful villas, while innumerable 
groups of ladies, gentlemen and children upon the shore, gave 



18 HISTORY OF THE 

us the heartiest of greetings and made the entire passage 
an ovation. We steamed through Newark bay with its 
attractive surroundings, and entered the Kill Von Knll open- 
ing by a deep and narrow passage into the South Bay, and 
at about halt-past two o'clock landed at South Amboy. 

BY KAIL TO BALTIMORE. 

In due season we seated ourselves in the meanest string of 
cars that ever pretended to he passenger ears. They appeared 
to have been made in the time of the flood. They were 
dirty, without cushioned scats, no hacks, and other features 
wholly indescribable. On we went through the afternoon 
and evening, arriving at Camden about ten o'clock. We 
were ferried across the river to Philadelphia and found our- 
selves, about eleven o'clock, marching for the Cooper's Shop 
Refreshment Saloon, where so many hundreds of Union 
regiments hail been generously and nobly entertained. The 
opportunity to refresh ourselves with a copious application 
of clean water was not the least of our blessings at this time. 
The bill of fare consisted of boiled ham. Bologna sausages, 
excellent bread, butter, cheese, pickles, and invigorating liot 
coffee. When we had concluded our repast the rousing 
cheers of the men for everybody and everything connected 
with the establishment, told how fully the reception was 
appreciated. "God bless Philadelphia." was in the mouth 
of every man in the regiment, and words cannot tell how 
deeply we were impressed with so glorious a reception : for, 
though it was past midnight as we marched to the cars for 
Baltimore. Hags in abundance were waved over our heads 
and hundreds of people were in the streets to cheer us on 
the way and bid us God-speed. 

About one o'clock we took freight cars, having a seat 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 19 

around the outside and one in the middle, for Baltimore. It 
was an enchanting moonlight night, revealing dimly the 
beauty of the country through which we passed. At day- 
dawn we reached Perry ville, at the head of Chesapeake hay, 
Havre de Grace being on the opposite bank. About half of 
the train passed over quite early, and the remainder about 
half-past six o'clock. The hour or more of delay was a 
season of no little enjoyment. Here we met the Eighteenth 
Connecticut and exchanged friendly greetings. The scene 
up and down the river was charming, and we were treated 
to a sunrise beautiful beyond description. The ride to Balti- 
more, which city Ave reached about ten o'clock Wednesday, 
was full of pleasure tempered slightly by delays when other 
trains had the right of way. 

AT BALTIMORE. 

Leaving the cars about eleven o'clock, we were soon 
enveloped in clouds of dust, marching through long and 
muddy streets, under the rays of a burning sun, and, as it 
seemed to the men, an unnecessarily long route, to the cars for 
Washington. It tried the men to the utmost. We were 
halted at the depot and thence marched to the refreshment 
saloon provided for the volunteers of the Union, where we 
partook of an excellent and substantial repast from well-laid 
tables, and, as at Philadelphia, we were treated like men. 
A great many Union flags, some of them splendid affairs, 
were -displayed on the line of march through the city, and 
the kind treatment we received at the hands of the citizens 
of the Monumental City was an agreeable disappointment. 
We started in box cars at three o'clock for Washington, pass- 
ing through a tine country, ran for seventeen miles, and then, 
lest we should interfere with other trains, waited until eight 



20 HISTORY OF THE 

o'clock. The evening was fine, and the cam)) fires reveal- 
ing several regiments which we passed on our route, lent 
additional beauty to the scenery. At eleven o'clock we 
were in Washington, at the Soldiers' Home. A not very 
palatable meal was provided, but rather better than we had 
been led to anticipate. An hour and a half later we retired 
to rest in the barracks near the Capitol. Few of the men, 
during this tedious journey, had eight hours' sleep, but they 
bore it with great good humor, officers and privates sharing 
very much alike. The men were allowed large liberty on 
the whole route, and proved themselves worthy of the confi- 
dence. 

IN WASHINGTON. 

Robin Hood and his merry men could hardly have been a 
merrier set of fellows than the thousand men from the homes 
of Little Rhody. that awoke on Thursday morning, October 
9th, refreshed by a few hours' sleep, after a journey of nearly 
five hundred miles. At seven o'clock, the reveille aroused 
us from our slumbers and we made preparation for the day's 
duties. A soldier's toilet was quickly made, and breakfast was 
served to each man individually. The few hours before we 
fell into line were faithfully improved. Letter-writing was 
almost universal. Sight-seeing was enjoyed by many. Some 
fell into the hands of barbarians and returned to their fellows 
looking - much like monkeys minus a caudal appendage. 
About twelve o'clock we took up our line of march over a 
hot and dusty road. Col. Met calf ahead and on foot, and at 
about half-past one o'clock halted on East Capitol Hill. 

(AMP AT EAST CAPITOL HILL. 

It will not soon be forgotten that this hill was composed 
of a clayey material, like polishing-powder. hard beneath 



. ELE VENTH R E( i I M E NT . 2 1 

the .surface, very muddy when wet, and when dry, movable 
as the sands of the desert. We were near the east branch 
of the Potomac. The afternoon was idly spent, and towards 
night many enjoyed the privilege of bathing. 

Here we had our first experience of sleeping without 
shelter, under the broad canopy of heaven. It was rather 
startling to some, but down we went, officers and men slept 
like tops, and awoke in the morning with blankets wet with 
deAv on the outside, but bodies warm beneath. The tents 
arrived and were speedily pitched in the sun-dried soil, and, 
notwithstanding rain in the afternoon, and hard rain at 
night, on leafy or hay beds we slept warm and soundly. 

In the morning the boys prepared to make the best of it. 
Some rations were cooked ; the balance of bounty obtained 
from Paymaster-General Knight, of Providence ; the certifi- 
cates for four dollars per week for the soldiers' families w T ere 
received, when the order came to " strike tents, pack knap- 
sacks, and prepare to march." The line was rapidly formed, 
and at three o'clock the Eleventh was waiting for orders. 
This camp was nicknamed Camp Misery and Camp Desola- 
tion, and no tear was shed in taking leave. The regiment 
had been ordered, the night before, into Gen. Casey's Divis- 
ion and Col. Burnham's Brigade. The Twenty-second 
Connecticut were encamped to the north of us and formed 
on the right of the line. 

MARCH TO CHAIN BRIDGE. 

We moved at half-past three o'clock for an unknown des- 
tination. The Connecticut boys stepped quickly to the beat 
of the drum through Pennsylvania avenue, past the Capi- 
tol, past the "White House," through streets slippery with 
mud, and no word of halt. It was too much. The men 



2'2 HISTORY OF THE 

took the sidewalks despite the urgings of officers, who also 
aided some of the men in carrying their knapsacks ; not till 
then came the word " halt." and the whole line at once sought 
door-steps, curb-stones and every available resting place. 

Heavy maledictions fell upon the head of the Connecticut 
Colonel. The Rhode Island hoys had this satisfaction, that 
on the whole route they did not come out second best. There 
was no more driving. In passing through Georgetown the 
roads grew rougher and muddier, till we were compelled to 
move in single file. Chain Bridge, which we were to cross, 
seemed like a butterfly which we should never catch, but it 
was reached and crossed at last, and we ascended the heights 
on the other side, much steeper than College street in Provi- 
dence, with a brisk step and no lagging. A few steps farther 
and we wheeled round on to a side hill, halting near the One 
Hundred and Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania ; and with no 
tents within miles of us on a cold, damp night, about half-past 
eight o'clock, we gladly sought rest on the bosom of mother 
earth. So much for the first four hours, ten miles knapsack 
march. Older soldiers declared that the regiment had done 
well. 

FIRST CAMP OX THE SACRED SOIL NEAR CHAIN BRIDGE. 

Sunday morning, early, on account of the damp and cold, 
the men built large camp-fires of fuel from the trees that 
had been felled for military purposes, and made themselves 
comfortable. It was a tine, woody country, with many a 
gorge and brook and dell to make it romantic. 

With the crackers and meat of the day before, some coffee 
was provided, with little or no sugar, and in spite of the 
unpleasant weather, the men were very cheerful. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 23 

CAMP NEAR FORT ETHAN ALLEN. 

At ten o'clock we again fell into line, marched about two 
miles and encamped near Fort Ethan Allen, the great dome 
of the Capitol looming up to the east of us. The various 
companies pitched their tents, policed the streets of a former 
camp, made comfortable beds of juniper boughs, and between 
four and five o'clock prepared a meal cooked by the com- 
pany cooks, consisting of salt beef, potatoes, French turnips 
and coffee. It being Sunday, by invitation of Capt. Ken- 
drick, as many as could be accommodated, held a religious 
meeting in the early part of the evening, in his tent. 

The next day, the 13th of October, the usual routine of 
drill, dress-parade, and regimental religious service was 
begun. There was a lack, however, of regular rations. For 
breakfast, coffee with sugar, and ham was provided ; at 
noon, hard-tack and water ; at night, a few crackers. 
Water was obtained at the springs near by. The scarcity 
of rations made the sutlers' patronage greater, and prices 
seemed to go up as rations got down. Ten cents were paid 
for common candles ; twenty-one cents per pound for cheese ; 
twenty cents each for pies, and other articles in proportion, 
and this was an advance of thirty-three to fifty per cent, on 
Washington prices a few days previous. 

A SPEECH FROM THE COLONEL. 

When the evening of October 13th came, several compa- 
nies in good order, but without their officers, marched to the 
Quartermaster's tent, and our cool and collected Colonel, 
learning of the movement, marched there, too. What he 
said, the writer cannot certainly say, but he made them a 
speech and the boys cheered, and matters were by some magic 
rectified, and the storm subsided. The tide turned the next 



2 I HISTORY (>V THE 

day, and rations began to pour in, including the soap and 
candles of several days previous. In the few following days 
every one enjoyed the delightfulness of the climate and 
observed the splendor of the moonlight nights. 

At four o'clock on the 15th, a surprise came, in an 
order to prepare for inspection. The boys were ready in 
twenty-five minutes, arms, knapsacks and tents were care- 
fully looked into by our officers, and the raw recruits became 
aware that this exercise was to come once a week to keep 
us on the qui vive. 

\- the Colonel passed through the lines of knapsacks in 
one company, he remarked in his dry way : •• I don't wonder 
you breakdown, it' you carry such loads as these." On the 
previous evening, in response to an invitation by the Chap- 
lain at dress-parade, a spirited prayer and conference meet- 
ing was held in and around his tent, by all who could partici- 
pate. Many such meetings were held while the regiment wa- 
in the service. 

FATIGUE DUTY. 

Another surprise came to us on Thursday, the 16th, in 
an order at dress-parade tor Companies K, H and 1 to 
report at seven o'clock next morning for fatigue duty. Any 
change seemed desirable, and the boys cheered lustily as they 
reached their company streets. Halt-past five the next 
morning the order came to tall in. The men jumped from 
their beds and made ready tor the unknown duty. They 
were in high spirits, and determined to have a good time if 
that was possible. They breakfasted on soft bread from 
\\ shing u and fried bacon and coffee, and took a day's 
rations in their haversacks. Pursuant to orders, they took 
their rubber and woolen blankets and overcoats. The column 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 25 

moved at seven o'clock. The morning was very fine. The 
sun rapidly dispelled the mist which lay in the valleys, wind- 
ing among the hills, and Looking, as you beheld it from sonic 
elevated point, like a mighty river, silent and smooth as glass. 
Every hill was crowned with sunbeams, and the woods 
seemed clothed in a fresh and polished green. The effect 
was further heightened l>v the many camps in view, as their 
tents, in shining whiteness, clustered on the hills and nestled 
in the valleys here and there, while "old glory" floated 
above each encampment, by the smile of Heaven an inspira- 
tion and defence. Fort Ethan Allen crowned a near, and 
Fort Marcy a more distant, summit. Forward was the 
word, and on they marched, over hill and through dell, 
through mud and mire, the result oi' the previous night's 
rain, until Fort Ethan Allen was reached. An hour passed 
before the One Hundred and Thirty-third New York and 
the Twenty-second Connecticut hoys came up, but in the 
meantime the companies received their axes and learned of 
the work before them. It was nine o'clock, and in another 
hour they came to a long belt oi' woods, where they rested a 
tew moments and prepared for labor. 

The boys will remember a tall walnut tree that stood in 
the path, near the woods, full ot' ripe nuts waiting for the 
nipping of Jack Frost, but not proof against clubs and 
stones : the rest can easily be imagined. 

The axes had been ground to peel an apple, and at the 
word of command the men walked into the woods and plied 
them with an energy that made the trees bow like grass 
before the mower's scythe. Captains, lieutenants and men. 
New York. Connecticut and Rhode Island, vied with each 
other in the work, and acre after acre was bared to the 
broad beams of the mid-day sun. and cleared for the range 
oi the guns of Fort Ethan Allen, and to prevent the rebels 



26 HISTORY OF THE 

from building a battery unseen by the Union commander. 
We rested at noon. In about tour hours, ten or more acres 
were laid low by six or seven hundred men. The ringing 
musie of the axes was inspiring. The crash of falling trees, 
manv of them one hundred, and acres of them fifty feet high 
and upwards, resounded for a long distance around, and 
cheer after cheer burst from the throats of the excited men. 
The return to camp, notwithstanding the fatigue of the men, 
was, by the same circuitous route of the morning, a march 
of several miles, from a point but a mile from the camp of 
the Eleventh. 

A SABBATH IN CAMP. 

A military life necessarily imposes upon the soldier many 
duties on the Sabbath which, in the quiet of our peaceful 
homes, would be an offence against the law of God. As 
well discard the night and day police in our cities when the 
Sabbath dawns, as to say that there shall not be due prepara- 
tion in camp to keep the soldier in readiness to meet the foe. 
But notwithstanding military regulations, this Sabbath in 
camp was a demonstration that the day can be profitably 
kept when the soldier is not upon the move, and that he may 
"remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," if there is a 
disposition to do so. Roll-call was at six o'clock, — the usual 
hour. Breakfast at seven. Inspection of arms, knapsacks 
and tents at half-past eight. At ten o'clock, preparation 
was made for morning religious services. In a little more than 
an hour the order passed through the streets for the men to 
appear in dress-coats, with arms and equipments, and be 
ready for church. Just before eleven o'clock. Company I 
moved to the north line of the encampment and sung a hymn 
from the soldiers' hymn books, given the boys before they 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 27 

left Camp Stevens. Soon the other companies came up and 
formed a hollow square, the regimental officers taking posi- 
tion on the north side, while all who were accustomed to 
sing were asked to gather round the Chaplain. A large 
number responded, and the service began with the hymn, 

" Welcome, sweet day of rest, that saw the Lord arise "; 
prayer, by the Chaplain, followed, and a second hymn, 
" My soul be on thy guard." 

Chaplain Gould then delivered a short, appropriate and 
pointed discourse, from 1st Timothy, 4th chapter and 7th 
verse, tc Exercise thyself unto godliness." The doxology, 

" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," 

was sung in conclusion. The whole service occupied but 
little more than half an hour, so that the most impatient and 
unwilling men, if such there were, could not complain of 
being wearied. Neither was there any compulsion of con- 
science, for previous to the commencement of the exercises 
the Colonel remarked in substance : "I am sorry that any of 
the companies, by their delay in getting into line, seem to be 
unwilling to join in this our first religious service. I should 
think you knew me well enough to believe that I wouldn't 
compel any man to attend upon the ministrations of a religion 
where he cannot conscientiously worship. If, now, there is 
any Roman Catholic who cannot unite in this service, or any 
other man, who will say that lie is conscientiously opposed 
to attending upon these exercises, let them step two paces 
forward and I will excuse them." Only three men asked to 
be excused, and the service proceeded in the order given 
above. In the afternoon, by invitation, quite a number of 
men from different companies, attended the religious services 
of the Twenty-second Connecticut, our Colonel excusing 



28 HISTORY OF THE 

them for that purpose. The sermon, by Chaplain C. C. 
Adams, was from Ephesians, 4th chapter and 1st verse : " I, 
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye 
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye arc (•ailed/' In 
the evening, fifty or sixty men from the various companies 
in the regiment attended a prayer and conference meeting, 
led by the Chaplain, in a tent loaned to us for the occasion. 
It was an excellent meeting. This description will suffice 
for many a Sunday passed in camp during the time of our 
enlistment, except as there were occasions of special interest. 
It should be observed that at this period, and on Miner's 
Hill, daily religious services were held at dress-parade unless 
the weather was inclement, or unavoidable circumstances 
prevented. The selections of Scripture at such times were 
from the Psalms or Proverbs, and those portions of the 
word of God seemed to possess a beauty, impressiveness and 
power seldom experienced before. It was plain that Col. 
Metcalf was disposed to give the regiment every moral 
and religious advantage consistent with his position, and 
took pleasure in uniting with us on all proper public occa- 
sions. A cam}) expression in favor of the Colonel would be 
to the point just here, but would not look well upon paper. 
Enough, that be grew in favor with the men of the regiment 
while he remained its commander. 

AN ESSAY ON ARMY MULES. 

The transportation of government rations and stores from 
Washington was by mule teams. We have seen no better 
description of these ubiquitous affairs than that given by Chap- 
lain Gould, in his Letters to the Providence Journal, over the 
signature "J. B. (J." : "A government team with a con- 
traband to drive it is an institution. One sees them, thou- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 29 

sands of them, by day, and hears the animals emitting hor- 
rible yells by night. The roads are a perfect representation 
of the atheist's idea of creation. Everything is by chance; 
gullies and rocks, stumps and broken bridges are mingled 
together most promiscuously. The pavements of Washing- 
ton and Georgetown, never perfectly even and comfortable, 
are now perfectly disarranged, and great carts go thundering 
and crashing into the pits, from which they are extricated by 
a wrench of the mule and a yell of the driver. On almost 
every open space in and around Washington these teams are 
seen covering scores of acres, while for miles on every road 
they are seen wending their way to different encampments. 
When one is far enough away to lose sight of the ribs of the 
poor beasts and can forget their sufferings, it is a pleasant 
sight to see the trains slowly winding their way up the hill- 
sides and through the valley. The poor mules are called 
ugly and obstinate, but any man, used as they are, who 
would not be ugly and obstinate would be a fool. They are 
said to kick in all directions, and it is asserted that a man in 
front of them has not more security from their heels than in 
any other position. They are frequently harnessed after a 
poor breakfast and drag a heavy load all day, and perhaps 
get stuck in some gully or hemmed in by a broken cart and 
do not get back to their forage till the next day at noon or 
night, and then, in all probability, start again for a similar 
trip the next morning. 

"and army horses. 

"To pass through a government stable where horses are 
kept, is only second to observing the mule teams. There 
they stand, black horses and white, red horses and gray, 
large horses and small, but mind you, all poor horses, wait- 
ing patiently for a requisition to be made to attach them to 



30 HISTORY OF THE 

some regiment. By some kind of accident it always hap- 
pens that the poorest arc selected, while their somewhat 
superior fellows are doomed to remain till they have passed 
through a process of starvation that renders them fit to 
enter active service." 

ORDERED INTO COWDEN's BRIGADE CHANGE OE CAMP. 

We learned Monday, October 20th, that we were ordered 
into Brig. -Gen. Robert Cowden's brigade, and that we 
should at once leave camp for a location about two miles 
south or southwest. Reveille sounded at five o'clock the 
next morning ; we were ordered to strike tents and be ready 
to march at seven. Rhode Island was ready promptly, and 
waited an hour and a half for the One Hundred and Thirty- 
third New York, which had the right of the line, and for the 
Connecticut Twenty-second, which had the left. A march of 
about two hours along the tortuous roads of the country, 
brought us to an open field to the south of Miner's Hill, not 
far from Falls Church. Here we unslung knapsacks and 
encamped. To the east was a large farm-house, and its occu- 
pant manifested a kind and generous spirit of accommodation 
to the men. More houses were to be seen around us than 
in our former camp, and more of the colored race appeared, 
the deepest midnight showing itself in their countenances. 

Tents were hardly pitched when three companies of the 
Eleventh were ordered on picket, and all necessary prepa ra- 
tions were made for this new duty, and the boys were in high 
glee at the prospect, but it turned out to be a sell. A march 
round the field and return to the company streets, was all 
that it amounted to. 

On the march to this camp, which we occupied for so 
brief a time, the boys observed a persimmon tree, the first 
that most of them had seen. The time of persimmons was 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 31 

"not yet." Jack Frost had not added his chemistry to the 
lair, round fruit, to make it palatable and to send it tumbling 
to the ground for the benefit and pleasure of mortals. But 
the boys could not wait, the fruit was too tempting. Clubs 
and stones soon brought some of it within reach, and a single 
bite sufficed to make the boys wise — the puckery quality 
predominated. A few of the persimmons, that were bruised 
and less inviting to the eye, were pleasant to the taste. 

A Rhode Island man, connected with the United States 
chasseurs, having had a more delightful experience, thus 
describes the tree and its fruit : 

THE OLD PERSIMMON TREE. 

While autumn blasts go wailing by, 

And surly grows the air; 
While falling leaves in eddies fly, 

And woods grow lean and bare, 
Come wander forth o'er hill and dale, 

And search the woods with me, 
To find in some secluded vale 

The old persimmon tree. 

Ho! see it tow'ring on the plain, 

With few companions near; 
While storms of sleet and frosty rain 

Beat on it through the year; 
But, like a sentry stout and brave, 

It stands the shock, you see, 
While high aloft its branches wave, 

Good old persimmon tree! 

^ 3fc -3(£ % %; 

Now taste the fruit ere it be ripe 

By sunshine from the South, 
And ten to one you cannot wipe 

The pucker from your mouth; 
But time will give the mellow taste, 

And then you'll hail with glee, 
The queen of all the woody waste, 

The old persimmon tree. 



o2 HISTORY OF THE 

God made the sea, the earth, the air, 

And man, and bird and beast. 
And bringeth forth all fruit so fair, 

That all enjoy the feast. 
Then let His praise resound abroad, 

Who gives to thee and me 
The mellow fruit around thy root, • 

Good old persimmon tree. 

THE MAINE LAW. 

A day or two before Ave left the camp near Fort Ethan 
Allen, there were some mysterious doings in the woods and 
among the brush, not far to the north. Canteens for water 
multiplied and formed in line in that direction, when sud- 
denly there came an order that no more canteens should be 
allowed to fill themselves with water of any kind. It did 
seem cruel that soldiers should ever be deprived of this heaven- 
sent beverage. The next day, however, six intoxicated men 
were brought in and put in the guard house, and the " mur- 
der was out." Some one who was willing to live on the 
life blood of his fellow men, with accomplices equally guilty, 
had secreted himself at some distance from camp, set a 
watch, sent out runners and enticed lovers of whiskey, and 
sold it in bottles holding about three gills each, at one dollar 
a bottle. When this movement came to the knowledge of 
the Colonel the trade was stopped at once. The watchman 
on the hill telegraphed to his principal, and devil number one 
skedaddled to a more congenial clime. 

DP IX THE MORNING EARLY. 

The most novel thing in this brief portion of our service 
occurred on tin 1 morning of October 22d. AVhile the men 
were sleeping soundly, "not dreaming of the hour," the 
various Captains, at half-past three o'clock, came quietly to 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 33 

the door of the tents, saying, " Get up and fall into line as 
quickly as possible. Strike no lights and make no noise." 
In twenty minutes the companies passed out of the streets 
and formed in line in front of the camp, awaiting the order 
to march. Our Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel were mounted 
to direct our movements, but we waited in vain. The whole 
division was under arms, and after waiting patiently two 
hours in the face of a northwest wind, the order came, 
"March off your companies." "Sold again," said the 
boys. That explained the matter to them ; but the know- 
ing ones were aware that the order was given to ascertain 
how promptly the division could get under arms and into 
line of battle. 

ON THE MARCH TO A NEW CAMP. 

The rest, after having our slumbers so rudely broken, was 
brief. The reveille soon sounded, and breakfast was hardly 
eaten when the order to strike tents and be ready to move 
at seven o'clock, was given. The Eleventh promptly 
responded, and waited until nine o'clock before the column 
was ready to move. The wind Avas high, the roads dusty, 
the grade ascending, and the tramp disagreeable. When we 
reached the summit of the hill we perceived a light-colored 
expanse with not a blade of grass in view. The word 
" halt " told us that this was to be our tk Soldiers' Home " 
for an indefinite period. An involuntary exclamation revealed 
the impression upon the minds of the men. East Capitol 
Hill was quite cast in the shade. It seemed as if a portion 
of the Desert of Sahara had been taken from Africa and 
transported to this place in the "midst of a basin of constant 
verdure ; for a deep vale of woods and dells surrounded it. 
The Fortieth Massachusetts were encamped in the valley to 



34 HISTORY OF THE 

the west, through which ran a convenient brook, presenting, 
as viewed from our streets, a picturesque scene. On the 
first day in this encampment the dust swept in numerous 
miniature simoons over the whole ground, until the patience 
of the men was well nigh exhausted. 

miner's hill. 

This was the first of the regiment's more permanent abodes. 
It is nearly a mile long, having only the width of the road 
at the summit, with a base of perhaps half a mile from east 
to west. It was undoubtedly reduced to the barren condi- 
tion in which we found it, by the constant occupancy of 
troops from 1861 to that time. It is about three miles from 
Chain Bridge. Washington was beyond the hills to the east. 
Fairfax Seminary could be seen a little to the southeast. 
Falls Church was, perhaps, a mile and a half to the south- 
west. We could imagine it a fine camping-ground in the 
summer, when the trees were in their glory, and the hill 
was clothed with a carpet of green. Just north of the 
Eleventh was Battery D, of Uncle Sam's Regulars. The 
four regiments which composed our brigade were in close 
proximity. 

As soon as the streets were laid out the Rhode Island boys 
didn't stop long to exclaim or complain, but merrily went to 
work with a will to make this unlovely spot as comfortable 
as possible. The streets were policed, the rubbish burned 
up, the tents pitched in spite of the high wind, which laid 
them fiat many times, the woods were laid under tribute, 
pine boughs were brought to make comfortable beds, and at 
the hour of dress-parade most of the tents seemed homelike 
and cosy. After supper and roll-call, when the hour of sleep 
came, the men, well tired out, lay down under the roofs of 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 35 

their canvas houses, and the beautiful stars of heaven, 
heralded by the most delicate new moon, looked smilingly 
down and seemed to bid them rest in peace. 

LIFE AT MIXER'S HILL. 

This was the outermost post of the defences of Washing- 
ton. The orders of Gen. Abercrombie, in whose division 
we were brigaded, required that we should rise at day-break, 
armed and equipped. Thus we appeared the next day, the 
23d of October. The routine was as usual : company drill 
in the morning ; battalion drill in the afternoon ; dress-parade 
if the weather was pleasant at the close of the day. Brigade 
guard mounting was a new feature to many of the boys, in 
which each regiment was represented by a company. Unmil- 
itary people might call it a kind of dress-parade in the morn- 
ing. It was soon found that guard duty was not more 
unendurable than the other routine of the soldier's life, and 
that it had the compensation, if nothing unlooked for occurred, 
of relief from ordinary drill on the following day. In the 
language of Artemus Ward, " it may be highly respectable, 
it may be a privilege, but it is not an enticin' performance." 

VISITORS BRIGADE REVIEW. 

Saturday, October 25th, was memorable for visitors to 
our camp. Beside Maj.-Gen. Abercrombie, there were Mr. 
Isaac H. Southwick, of Providence, at that time President 
of the Providence and Worcester Railroad Co., and daueh- 
ters, and His Honor Mayor Knight, of Providence. Vis- 
itors from home were always gladly welcomed. Then came 
a brigade review. To participate in this, the regiment 
marched about a mile in heavy marching order to a level 
plain and were reviewed by Gen. Cowden and staff. This 



36 HISTORY OF THE 

was all the same as a regimental review multiplied by four. 
Gen. Cowden was frequently about our lines, and on the day 
previous he made an inspection of guns and knapsacks, 
making a very favorable impression upon the men. At this 
time it was hard to realize that we were so far from home, 
and every homelike feature possessed a wonderful charm. 
The boys will not forget a farm-house known as Birch's, 
which they visited to get their clothes washed, and not a 
few of them to enjoy a meal now and then, including an 
occasional rabbit pie. A pleasing reminder of home, at 
Birch's, were the flowers in bloom here and there. 

The Rhode Islanders always did well what they were 
ordered to do, and it should be mentioned here, that on the 
day when a part of the regiment mowed the woods, four 
companies went over to Fort Ethan Allen constructed three 
hundred feet of breastworks, and did other work on a 
redoubt, and were commended by the Colonel and Engineer 
for doing twice as much as they expected, and doing it well. 

The weather at that time was exceedingly fine ; neither 
very hot nor very cold, though early in the morning, and we 
"rose with the lark," we were treated to several white 
frosts, which told us plainly that Jack Frost's dominions 
were extensive, and if we wished to escape him we must 
move far south of the redoubtable city of Richmond. 

COMMON LIFE. 

Three hours a day at that time were spent in drill, beside 
dress-parade and inspection of muskets, knapsacks and tents 
now and then. The streets were policed as soon as the day- 
break roll was called, and then away, half a mile to the 
brook, to wash. It took some time to eat ; but this was 
not an irksome task to the men, who ware hungry and not 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 37 

especially lazy. There were lazy men, it was said, in all 
the companies, and this did not lighten the burdens of those 
who cheerfully performed their part. 

The soldier had his clothes to mend. This arose in part 
from the poor sewing on the garments which our dear Uncle 
Samuel furnished the boys, and, to go a little farther back, to 
the poor prices which the poor women who made them got 
for their labor. If the ghost of one of Hood's shirts did 
not appear at some time to some of their employers and 
frighten them into an unwelcome eternity, they certainly 
deserved a just retribution in this life. 

Everybody knows that the soldier was obliged to be his own 
washerwoman, and when this agreeable duty came round 
we were reminded of the helpfulness of the other sex, who. 
at that time, were as rarely to be seen as flowers in the 
desert. All this used uptime. Then the musket and equip- 
ments were to be kept in a condition to pass inspection. 
There were other contingent duties, such as providing w T ood 
and water for the cook, attending to this and that, which 
stole away the soldier's leisure hours and shortened his time 
for penning those loving epistles which friends at home 
expected, and complained if they did not receive. These 
friends were advised to turn the tables when they felt thus, 
and write three letters to the soldier's one, for it would help 
him along wonderfully. 

LETTER- WRITING SUNDAY. 

On this day, the 26th, owing to the fatiguing duties of 
the previous days, the regiment was excused from all extra 
duties, including religious services. A northeast rain storm 
began at eight o'clock in the morning and continued through 
the night. Everybody, but those who went for rations or on 
some special service, stayed indoors. The regiment took 
4 



38 HISTORY OF THE 

to letter-writing. In many tents there were singing, praising, 
praying, and reading- the Bible. To many it was one of 
those quiet Sundays which, at times, are very enjoyable. 
The product for that day was at least one thousand letters. 

DIVISION REVIEW. 

Roll-call was omitted the next morning, and at half-past 
seven we were ordered in line and marched off in the storm 
a mile and a half to a grand review ; but the storm raged so 
furiously that the review was postponed, the regiment was 
ordered back to find, on arriving at camp, that several tents 
had been prostrated by the violence of the wind. The dam- 
age, however, was soon repaired and at noon the storm 
ceased. 

An ambulance corps, composed of a detail of ten men 
from each regiment, in accordance with the then recent army 
regulations, was formed at that time. Rev. Philo Hawkes, 
believed to be eminently fitted for the position, was detailed 
from Company I. 

The review did come off on the next day. It was not so 
grand an affair as we had hoped. Probably less than three 
brigades were present and passed in review before Gen. 
Abercrombie, whose headquarters were at Fort Ethan Allen. 
It was an imposing sight, however, to see even eight or ten 
thousand men march in review. 

On the 31st, the men were paid off. To this end every 
man must fall in line with his knapsack strapped upon his 
back. The only answer to the men's wonder at this require- 
ment was, Uncle Sam says so, and that must suffice. 

THE DRUM HAND. 

The music added much to the life of the regiment, and 
we gladly refer to it at this point in our narrative. Officers 
and men greatly enjoyed it, and at dress-parade on the eyen- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 39 

ing of October 30th, the drum band, under the direction of 
its Drum-Major, Mr. AY. L. Dunbar, of Providence, intro- 
duced a new roll, which attracted not only the attention of the 
regiment but of the visitors, of whom there were more or less 
present each evening. The interest was maintained while 
the music sounded, and when the tune changed and the band, 
in tip-top time, played "Dixie" until they reached the right 
of the line, if the performance had been in some public hall 
in Providence there would have been tremendous applause. 
We have no doubt that the men, and the Colonel, too, would 
have felt better if they could have ventilated their throats 
upon the occasion. We are still of the opinion that our 
drum band was not excelled by that of any regiment about us. 

Two weeks made such changes in the camp at Miner's 
Hill, that if our friends at home could have looked down 
upon the regiment from one of the Avar balloons of that 
time, they must have concluded that w r e meant to spend our 
nine months there ; for the soldier soon learns to arrange his 
quarters as if his stay was to be permanent, though he knows 
full well that at any moment an order may issue to strike 
tents and move forward. 

Hon. A. C. Barstow, of Providence, visited the regiment 
on the 1st of November. He was present at dress-parade, 
and spent a portion of the Sabbath in camp. He called 
upon all the men with whom he had any acquaintance. His 
visit was greatly appreciated, and so also were the visits of 
Messrs. Salisbury and Mason, two young gentlemen from 
Providence, who called upon their friends in camp next day. 

CONTRASTS. 

The contrast between Sunday, November 2d, and the 
Monday following was quite marked, and was a fair sample 
of what we became accustomed to. In order that the men 



40 HISTORY OF THE 

might have full rest, the Colonel deferred the religious services 
until towards night, and included dress-parade. These dress- 
parades received frequent compliments from visitors, but on 
this occasion the display was unusually fine. The line was 
formed on the narrow hill, facing the west. It was near 
sunset, and a curtain of clouds of a neutral tint hung above 
the horizon, causing every object to stand out in bold relief. 
This curtain grew thinner as the sun declined. The long- 
line of men, as they stood at parade-rest, every musket 
aslant, every bayonet flashing back the sunbeams that 
had dispelled the clouds and lit up the western sky with 
glory indescribable, combined to render the scene exceedingly 
impressive. The parade over, regular religious services 
began, the Chaplain preaching from Matthew, 5th chapter 
and lGth verse, "Let your light so shine before men that 
they may see your good works and glorify your Father 
which is in heaven." The brilliant display of nature, which 
called forth exclamations from every one able to appreciate 
it, seemed to be a part of the closing exercises of this day of 
rest. 

The middle of the night brought a storm, and after a 
shower of rain we awoke in the morning in the midst of a 
terrible gale, that beat great clouds of dust with the severest 
fury upon our tents and filled the streets for several hours. 
It poked its way into every opening and fairly sifted itself 
through the canvas, so that everything was covered witli an 
impalpable powder and a yellow hue. The men appeared 
in the same uniform from the eyebrows to the toes. Thus 
we had grit with our food, and grit with our drink ; grit 
for breakfast, grit for dinner, and grit for supper ; and it was 
thought that, if these periodical visitations were combined with 
the efficient labors of our Colonel, there was a promise of 
grit enough to meet the rebels, and to spare. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 41 

WINTER QUARTERS. 

Rhode Island boys were not to be baffled by the elements ; 
they not only mat this event in a good spirit, but set to work 
at once to make the most of it. 

The dust storm of Monday, combined with the increasing 
cold, inaugurated a new movement. The boys of the vari- 
ous companies began to erect houses of various styles of 
architecture, built with great rapidity and more or less fitted 
to protect us from the weather, in however '"questionable 
shape" it might come. The quarters of some were stock- 
aded two or three feet from the ground, with a double or single 
tent perched upon the top. Others dug down and built up 
also. Some were entirely of logs, with flat, or round, or 
peaked roofs, as taste and rivalry prompted. Cook-houses 
and officers' quarters were roomy, convenient and substan- 
tial. When it is remembered that these were, perhaps, but 
for a day, it shows the zeal of the men for their own com- 
fort, or from a desire to exercise their ingenuity. Those 
least prone to work were the most energetic in this business. 

Company E, at this time, began to fit up a gymnasium, a 
work in the right direction. 

SICKNESS IN CAMP. 

The number of men on the sick list now began to increase, 
though there were but few in the hospital and no one danger- 
ously sick. There seemed to be no good reason for this. 
The location was healthy. Perched on a hill, we were free, 
from bad vapors, and pure air was abundant. Imprudence, 
over-eating and drinking were doubtless the chief causes of 
disease in the Eleventh in that early part of the service, and 
experience taught us many good lessons. 



42 HISTORY OF TTIF 

PICKET DUTY AND THE FIRST SNOW STORM. 

Capts. Taft, Thrasher, and Kendrick, Companies F, B, 

and I, were ordered to take their turn on picket, Friday, 
November 7th. The night before, the sun set partially 
clouded, and the cold rapidly increased. The morning 
brought a leaden sky, such as we had seen in Rhode Island 
on a Thanksgiving day, when lo ! at eight o'clock it began 
to snow. It was no joke, and the men, singing merrily, 
though inwardly dreading the prospect, marched off to their 
posts, which extended for a mile and a half or two miles on 
the Lewinsville road. Huts of various kinds had been 
erected at these posts, and, having rations and blankets, the 
hoys prepared to spend the twenty-four hours. The storm 
of the morning became a driving northern snow storm, which 
lasted till seven in the evening, making at least eight inches 
of snow on a level. It seemed a pretty good first lesson in 
picket duty. This in the sunny south, when a few days 
before the weather had been like July. But the men pre- 
pared to laugh at the storm. Rousing fires built in the dav- 
time, making abundant coals at night, enabled the pickets to 
keep comfortable. Bread was toasted, sweet potatoes, from 
farm-houses near by, were roasted, coffee and good fare 
generally, completed the improved rations. In the hours of 
sleep the men slept, contrived to be comfortable, and 
returned to camp in the morning in fine spirits. One 
improvement was suggested, that Uncle Samuel ought to 
furnish all pickets with sweet potatoes and an umbrella. 
Perhaps the boys should have returned thanks to the rebels 
for letting them alone. Otherwise this duty might have 
been a different affair. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 43 

CHANGES OF OFFICERS AM) PROMOTIONS. 

Important changes of officers were made early in Novem- 
ber. Capt. Moss, of Company H, was promoted to major ; 
Second Lieut. Frank Dennis was attached to Gen. Cowden's 
staff; Lieut. Bacon was made brigade commissary; Private 
Samuel Thurber, of Company I, was promoted to second 
lieutenant. The impression prevailed also, that our Adju- 
tant was to leave us, but that, much to the satisfaction of 
the men, did not happen. The change most deeply felt by 
the whole regiment was the removal of our Colonel. Officers 
and men were filled with sorrow at the prospect of this event. 
The men felt that they had lost a personal, friend, and were 
deeply impressed that they had lost a leader in whom they 
had entire confidence, while at the same time they wished 
for him the attainment of his most ardent hopes and the 
most gratifying success. At the conclusion of the religious 
service, Sunday, November 9th, an earnest benediction upon 
the Colonel was invoked by the Chaplain. 

col. metcalf's farewell. 

Before dismissing the regiment, the Colonel addressed us 
in appropriate and feeling language. He stated that he had 
been called to the command of the Third Rhode Island, then 
at Hilton Head, S. C. He added, that when, a few weeks 
previous, he was offered the colonelcy of the Eleventh, he 
would have declined the honor had not duty required its 
acceptance, and now he was surprised that, after the lapse 
of so brief a period, since his connection with the regiment, 
he felt so much regret in parting with its officers and men. 
Again, he felt that his personal preference would now prompt 
him to remain, and he only yielded to his sense of duty in 
accepting this new appointment. 



44 HISTORY OF THE 

His connection with this regiment had been from the out- 
set an agreeable one ; its conduct, except in a few, rare indi- 
vidual eases, was deserving of praise ; its progress had much 
exceeded his anticipations ; he had been as pleased as a boy 
with the daily improvement. This he did not consider 
especially due to himself, but it belonged to the regiment, 
and he urged upon the men a continued determination to be 
nothing less than the best regiment in the service. None 
came out here, said he, without a greater or less personal 
sacrifice. He considered it the highest privilege of every 
soldier to fulfil his duty to his country, prompted by right 
motives. 

The success which every man desired was best procured 
by a strict performance of every obligation, and promotion 
otherwise obtained was dishonorable. We could not always 
have what we deserved, and could not all be major generals ; 
he thanked God for it, for there were too many men in the 
service who desired to do little work and make a great show. 

He trusted that in a few days some leader would be pro- 
vided, in whom the whole regiment could deservedly feel the 
confidence that had been reposed in him. He hoped that 
this regiment, as its promise was, would attain the highest 
honors, and wherever he might be he would not begrudge 
them any reward that might be measured out to them. 

Capt. Cady, of Company E, was at this time transferred 
to the Second Rhode Island Cavalry, and left camp for Provi- 
dence six days after Col. Metcalf. Both appointments were 
sent from Rhode Island at the same time. 

GAY AND GRAVE. 

The hours on Miner's Hill brought little variety. Only 
two or three events out of the ordinary course transpired 
from the 9th to the 17th of November. The first was rather 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 45 

comic in its character. The officers of our brigade, what- 
ever their personal conduct as temperance men, were wide 
awake on the liquor question, and did their best to execute 
the Maine law most effectively. In their official capacity 
in camp, liquor was not a sacred article, and liquor sellers 
were put on a par with the stuff they sold. Just before 
dress-parade on Thursday, the loth, a nice covered buggy, 
surrounded by a lively crowd, moved slowly southward from 
Gen. Cowden's headquarters, while a drum and fife, sound- 
ing merrily, rang through the camp. Two well-dressed 
looking men were seen, a soldier on each side, three soldiers 
with charged bayonets in their rear, a drum and fife ahead 
playing the Rogues' March, marching with chop-fallen, woe- 
begone looking countenances. They marched across and 
out of our lines, cheered on by the crowd and laughed at to 
their hearts' content, probably by some of the very chaps 
that had previously imbibed their whiskey. The majority of 
the regiment rejoiced at their fate 

The next day, Friday, most of the companies, invited by 
Lieut. -Col. Pitman, went out for target practice. This was 
new and agreeable business to many, and was repeated on 
several other occasions. The green hands performed their part 
much better than was expected. If shooting was to be the 
principal business, it seemed to be important that we should 
know how, rather than "how not to do it." 

A sad scene on Saturday was the funeral procession of a 
member of the One Hundred and Thirty-third New York, 
who had been left at the hospital of the Eleventh, hopelessly 
sick of typhoid fever. A military salute was fired as the 
procession passed our lines. The drum band of the regi- 
ment was detailed by Lieut. -Col. Pitman, that music might 
be furnished for the occasion. Thus the story of mortality 
was repeated to us, while our hearts could but be thankful 



4(> HISTORY OF THE 

t hut the angel of death had thus far failed to lav his hand 
upon any one of the thousand of our number. Friends at 
home had gone before us to their long account, while we 
remained in the land of the living. 

The news of the important changes at the head of the 
army occasioned some excitement. There was a general 
satisfaction that one so much loved and esteemed as a soldier, 
and by the soldiers, as Ambrose E. Burnside, was deemed 
worthy to take command of a mighty army. The sentiment 
of the regiment then. was. God speed Rhode Island's first 
soldier ! It is a matter of rejoicing, that since the close of 
the war he has been rewarded by the highest honors that his 
State can bestow, that he still retains the love of those 
who followed his fortunes in the held, and is honored and 
esteemed by the citizens of a restored Union. 

GOING TO CHURCH ON PICKET. 

Sunday, the 16th, was a dull, cloudy day. with hardly a 
gleam of sunshine. The routine of the Sabbath was 
observed. Companies II. F and I were out on picket, and 
each, in their own way, claimed that they had a good time. 
Some of the officers, aim a few of the men, mostly from 
Company I, were permitted to enjoy, what they least expected, 
the privilege to attend church while not especially on duty 
at their posts. Old Revolutionary and Old Colony times 
were re-enacted. A tall Captain at the head of a squad of 
men. marched in good order, some two miles, " armed and 
equipped as the law directs." to the church at Lewinsville. 
They wcr*' greeted at the door by a few persons faithful to 
our glorious Union and faithful to God also. They marched 
in. took their seats in the pews, leaned their muskets against 
the backs, and. in the style of the old Puritans, bowed 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 47 

their hearts and worshipped. Loud and sweet notes of 
praise, from male and female voices, blended and filled the 
house. The Chaplain of the Eleventh officiated after the 
usual New England form, delivering a discourse from 
Hebrews, 6th chapter and 19th verse, to Which the audience 
gave the closest attention. A considerable number of citi- 
zens, looking like good New England farmers, were present, 
and some dozen or more females, dressed in northern style, 
intelligent and polite in their manners, able and willing to 
sing, and to appreciate a good sermon. This church and the 
many Union people who composed it suffered from the war, 
but the fire of faith and the spirit of loyalty seemed left in 
many hearts, and we could not doubt that when the great 
cloud which then darkened the land was removed, the spirit 
of the Lord would breathe upon a once active organization 
of one hundred members, only one of whom was a Virginian, 
and the "dry bones " would live again. 

Some of the Union families near Lewinsville, that stood 
up boldly for our cause, were found out and visited by the 
Rhode Islanders. 

But I must not neglect to pay a well-merited tribute to a 
Union family that lived near Lewinsville, by the name of 
Woodworth. 

THE WOODWORTH FAMILY. 

"Soon after our regiment reached Miner's Hill, one day we 
were on picket duty, when a Chaplain rode up and presented 
his pass from the general in command, for him to pass 
through the lines to Lewinsville. He was going out to visit 
a Union family named Woodworth, and extolled them in the 
highest terms. He urged the writer to go out by all means, 
and make their acquaintance. On his way back, late in the 



48 HISTORY OF THE 

* 

day, he repeated and urged his advice, that we should find 
this family ; so, taking his directions as to how to find their 
house, tlic ' officer of the day ' and the ' officer of the 
guard ' determined to pay them a visit. 

v - Never shall I forget that first visit to the house of this 
excellent family. As we passed along by one plantation 
after another, we finally came in sight of a house that looked 
more like a northern home than anything we had seen since 
coming upon the ' sacred soil ' of Virginia. It was painted 
white, and had a pretty piazza in front. We rapped at the 
door. It was soon opened by Mr. Woodworth's daughter. 
As the door opened, at a glance Ave discovered several things 
we had not seen since we landed in Virginia : First, a lady 
with her hair neatly combed; second, with a clean, white 
collar about her neck ; third, a stove, other than a cook 
stove ; fourth, a cabinet organ ; fifth, paper upon the house 
walls ; sixth, a carpet upon the floor. 

"We stayed to supper, and partook heartily. The table 
was spread with a clean, white table cover. The dishes 
reminded us strongly of home. The nice, white, light flour 
biscuits were a novelty in that country. 

'•Before leaving", we joined this family in singing that 
good old hymn, 

' My country, 't is of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 
Of thee I sing,' 

accompanied by the cabinet organ. 

* * This visit was like an oasis in the desert, or like a spring 
of fresh water in a * dry and thirsty land.' It is safe to 
say, that any members of the Eleventh who had once visited 
this family were glad to repeat the visit. One of the most 
enjoyable of evenings, was that spent at the Woodworths' one 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 49 

evening, by a company consisting, perhaps, of ten or 
twelve men — captains, lieutenants, sergeants and men — 
who, getting the countersign, poured through the entire length 
of the picket line, and made a visit at this hospitable home 
of Union people. 

"We sang ' America,' fc The Star Spangled Banner,' ' The 
Red, White and Blue,' ' The Sword of Bunker Hill,' and 
other stirring and patriotic airs. 

"The old gentleman, Mr. Woodworth, was, perhaps, sixty- 
five years old. He had gone down into that country many 
years before the war, from northern New York. After the 
disaster of the first Bull Run he and his family took refuge 
in Washington, and after Pope's repulse, at the second Bull 
Run, they again withdrew within our lines at Georgetown. 

" One day, not having heard for some time of any raids 
by the rebel cavalry through that section, he decided to run 
the risk of a visit to his home, and to some of his neighbors 
who had remained at their homes. Walking up from George- 
town, across ' Chain Bridge,' and around, he finally came 
upon his home, now all desolate and dilapidated. 

" After looking his place over and attending to whatever 
needed attention, he crossed over to one of his nearest neigh- 
bors, a member of the same Presbyterian church to which 
he belonged, a widow, from whom he learned that no rebel 
uniforms had been seen there for many days. • 

"Emboldened by this bit of news, he determined to run the 
risk of remaining to draw up for this neighbor a load of 
w r ood from the forest hard by, since he found her wood-pile 
almost entirely exhausted. This he proceeded to do. After 
unloading the wood he took dinner with his friends, and then 
stepped out to the barn to give the horse his dinner. 

' • As he was going to the barn he espied two rebel cavalry- 
men just galloping along towards the house, from out of the 
5 



50 HISTORY OF THE 

woods beyond. Eloping he had nol been seen, he secreted 
himself in the barn and awaited their arrival. Soon they 

Came Up, hunted him out, took him prisoner, and carried 

him over to their headquarters. II** was adjudged a Union 
man. and sen! to Richmond. There he spent several months 

in prison and was almost starved. 'The old man told me 
that while there, occurred the only time he ever stole in 
his Long life. He said thai in carrying potatoes to the cook, 

he used to purloin a lew, put them in his pocket, and eat 

them — raiv potatoes I so hungry was he. Finally, he was 
srt at liberty, in Richmond, and told i<» go where he Liked. 
Alter walking, and sometimes getting a ride upon the cars for 
a piece, he finally arrived at the rebel headquarters, within 

a lew miles of his home. Meantime the Union forces had 
extended their lines so as to take in his home, and his family 
had returned. Here he was stopped and not permitted to 
go further. For six weeks he was obliged to remain there, 
near the rebel headquarters, and reporl every morning. He 
must sleep upon the ground, and as it was now the fall of 
the year, and the nights growing cold, it brought on the 

rheumatism, so that he suffered extremely. 

"One day a small detatchment of our forces marched up 
near Lewinsville and with a light battery opened upon the 

rebels. The shot and shell flew so promiscuously abbut, thai 
the rebel forces were obliged to 'skedaddle,' and Mr. 

Woodworth was once more permitted to go where he liked. 
He lost no time in reaching his home, and has since expressed 
no desire to return to Richmond*" 



KLKVKNTM REGIMENT. 



51 



PICKET EXPERIENCES AND ENJOYMENTS <>N THE LEWINSVILLE 

bw For nearly three months the Eleventh Rhode [sland <li<l 
constant picket duty on the fronl which lay between Lewins- 
ville and Falls Church, [t would fall to each company to 
'go or picket' about once a week. No duty was more 
agreeable t<> the boys. It offered them every variety of 
adventure. Six men were usually detailed for cadi 'post.' 

tk ()ne of III*' picket lines began al l\Ir. Kerby's and 

extended to Mr. Stuart's house, on the Lewinsville road. 
This Mr. Kerby pretended to be a Union man, but was at 
heart a rebel. lie had a son in the rebel army. The boys 
of the Eleventh sold coffee to him at a very low' rate, and he 
look it into Georgetown and sold it at a very high price. 
Each company had at least one tailor, who would make bed 

Sacks. These sacks would he carried out on picket to 

Kerby's, of whom hay or straw could be bought at a high 
rate, and so straw beds would soon render more comfortable 
camp life. The second post beyond Kerby's house was 
upon the hillside, where the road had beer! dug down eight 
or ten feet on the one side to level up the other. One day 

the six men who were detailed to this post, carried out from 

camp an ax, a hammer and nails, and two or three shovels. 
Every tWO men were on duty lour hours, and off eight. This 
always left four men off duty. These men worked with 

wonderful skill* and energy nearly all day, as the weather 
was quite cold, to hnild Tor themselves a hut where they 
could be sheltered, especially at night, from the weather. 
They dug a hole into the hillside, about eight or ten feet 
square, with a large fire-place at the rear end. The smoke 
was carried up and out from a hole left in the ground 
above. The front of this subterranean hut was 'boarded 



52 HISTORY OF THE 

up' with rails held by stakes firmly planted in the ground 
and the tops bound together by withes. Rubber blankets 
were hung 1 1 f > on the inside of this rail barricade and over 
the place left for a doorway, so as effectually to keep any 
light from shining oul from the lire in the lire-place The 
top was first covered with rails, upou which was thrown 
boughs and limbs of trees, and dirt upon the top of all. 
This made very comfortable barracks for night for these 
men, and well did they enjoy the fruit of their labor. 

" At another post, where n<> arrangement of this sort was 
practicable, a large stove, or fire p<>t, was made in the ground 
by digging and covering with large, flat stones, and building a 
chimney al the farther end. Here a huge fire would be kepi 
through the afternoon, and when the sun had set and the 
countersign was put on, then the draft for the fire was stopped 
up, the chimney covered, and every precaution taken to 
allow the (ire to keep until morning. 'Then through the 
long hours of the night the two men would march from this 
common point in opposite directions through the length of 
their proper heat, ' ahout face,' and return, to halt a moment 
upon this covered bed of coals and thus keep their feel warm. 
Still other devices were used to diminish their hardships and 
add to the comforts of picket duty. 

"In one case a large hut or wigwam was made from rails 
and brush, so thick and compact thai no light from the warm 
lire could he detected through this opaque environment. 

"Some strange adventures were occasionally experienced 
in the course of picket duty. In the earlier history of the 
regiment, of course the soldiers were to he instructed in 
their duties. Sometimes officers fell called upon to put the 
trustworthiness of their men to the test. One night, just 
after the countersign had been put on, a first lieutenant sent 
a corporal from one post pasl another to a brook for a pail 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 53 

of water. He directed him to go forward by the mm on 
duty as though the countersign had not been put on, unless 
stopped by the guard, [f he should be halted, then to stop 
and give the countersign. Jusl about time enough had 
elapsed for the soldier to reach the next post, when there 
rang out upon the still, quiet evening air, quick and sharp, 
-Hall! halt !— halt, or I fire.' Bang went the rifle, with- 
out a moment's pause. Quick as thought, officers and men 
were running down to the next station, their hearts fluttering 
with the fear th.it the proposed trial of fidelity had proved a 
tragedy. They were quickly relieved, however, by finding 
the corporal safe and sound, and that the shooting, which 
had proceeded from the station beyond the brook, at the 
edge of the wood, was occasioned by the running of a cow, 
which had been challenged in the darkness, and not respond- 
ing, hut continuing her rapid retreat, had been fired upon. 
It is safe to affirm that that lieutenant tried no fuiM her experi- 
ments after that fashion. This old cow belonged to a Air. 
Stuart, whose wife was sister to Jackson, the hotel keeper 
at Alexandria, who shot Ellsworth. 

"The Stuart family lived in a miserably dilapidated house, 
just opposite the last picket post, on the Lewinsville road. 
In going 'grand rounds,' the officer of the day passed this 
house, and, as stories were quite in vogue how rebels visited 
the house by night, to gel information concerning our forces, 
a sharp lookout was kept, and every suspicious circumstance 
was thoroughly examined. One night, an exceedingly dark 
night, as the officer was making the 'grand rounds,' he 
discovered some one cautiously creeping across the open lot 
towards the Stuart house. Of course, the navv revolver 
was quickly whisked out of the belt and cocked. Then, to 
make sure work, the officer crept carefully along towards 
the offending intruder, until the nearness and constant 



54 HISTORY OF the 

peering into the darkness, finally revealed the dim outline 
of Stuart's horse, quietly grazing in the grass Held. No 
one will doubt that the revolver was quickly returned to its 
plaee, and 'grand rounds' continued without causing the 
camp to be alarmed. 

"Mr. Stuart had two boys, nearly the same age, of per- 
haps from ten to twelve years. One of these lads always 
proclaimed himself a Union boy, and the other always as 
confidently pronounced himself a rebel. Each had a kitten 
to which he manifested a strong attachment. The Union 
boy named his kitten Abraham Lincoln, and the secesh lad 
called his pet Jeff. Davis. The boys often had hard words 
with each other, upon political subjects, and the rebel boy 
always contended that his cat, Jeff. Davis, was going to kill 
Abraham Lincoln. It happened that a few nights after a 
sharp wrangle of this nature, a door, which had fallen from 
its hinges, had been set up in its place, and by some sudden 
gust of wind was blown over, and fell upon the cat 
Abraham Lincoln, and crushed it to death. The Union boy 
mourned the death of his favorite with unfeigned grief, but 
the rebel youth apparently rejoiced with true joy, and said : 
'I told you so, and Jeff. Davis is going to kill Lincoln, too, 
and you may depend upon it.' So coming events cast their 
shadows. 

"Sergeant B., of Company H,- relates that while the regi- 
ment was on Miner's Hill, and picketing the road to Lew- 
insville, a special lookout was kept over the house where the 
sister of the rebel Jackson, the slaver of Ellsworth, lived, 
as it was supposed to be a rendezvous for rebel spies. On 
one night, when Sergeant B. was on duty, the sentinel on 
the beat nearest Lewinsville, halted a person who was about 
to cross his beat, and kept him at the point of his bayonet 
until the sergeant relieved him of his prisoner, who proved 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 55 

to be a second lieutenant of the regiment, who, having a fond- 
ness for ladies' society, had been gone all of the afternoon, 
and not having the countersign was taken prisoner on his 
return. There was no doubt in the lieutenant's mind but 
what the sentinel, ' Gen. Scott,' took a grim satisfaction in 
doing his duty that night. 

''The same sergeant recollects that, being stationed at the 
end of the Lewinsville road, nearer Falls Church, one very 
cold evening, he was cautioned by the retiring sergeant to 
pay particular attention to a house about a mile distant, 
where, it was said, signals were made at night to the enemy. 
His orders were, if the lights were displayed, (which was 
supposed to be the mode of signaling,) to ascertain the cause, 
and take steps to suppress it. It was his usual plan to be up 
himself with the first relief. He recalls how cold it was, as, 
sitting by the fire which was built on the bluff, he was roasting 
in the face arid freezing at his back. Nothing occurred the 
first part of the night, but he was awakened shortly after 
retiring, by the corporal, who informed him that the signals 
were being made. The sergeant came out, and sure enough, 
there was the light. Here was an opportunity which he 
had long been waiting for ; a chance to distinguish himself, 
perhaps to capture some rebel spies. It might be a general, 
perchance the cavalry general, which the regiment had been 
sent out to the cross roads to intercept a few weeks before. 
Filled with these thoughts he woke his sleeping men, 
explained to them the situation, and asked for volunteers. 
Selecting the three who seemed the most eager to go, they 
started for their prey. On Hearing the house, he disposed 
his men so as to approach it in four directions, expecting to 
surprise the rebels. Reserving. to himself the approach to 
the light, as he drew nearer he discovered that what had been 
mistaken for signal lights was the glare of the light from a 



56 HISTORY OF THE 

room, on the side of an out-building, which, from the 
picket post, looked like something - very suspicious. On 
arriving in the yard he found an ell to the main building all 
alight, but no person in sight. Looking in at the window, he 
saw a room entirely bare of furniture, with a fire blazing in 
the open fire-place, and on the floor, covered with an old and 
ragged quilt, a negro, sleeping. The main building was 
shrouded in darkness. By this time the sergeant was 
rejoined by his men, and placing his hand on the latch of 
the door, he pushed it open and all marched in. As they 
halted, their muskets came to an order, and the noise awoke 
the negro, who was so frightened he could hardly answer 
the questions demanded of him, but which he did finally 
answer to the satisfaction of the sergeant, who withdrew with 
his men and left the negro, fully satisfied that his chance for 
distinction by capturing a rebel was destroyed for that night 
at least. As the sergeant was never afterwards at that post 
again, he cannot tell whether the negro died of fright or 
subsequently became a member of Congress." 

On our picket line were many houses where meals could 
be had for a reasonable consideration, an opportunity which 
officers and men were not slow to improve. At some places 
the families were true blue, and at others they had taken the 
oath of allegiance and were "blue " without the true. The 
Eleventh regiment maintained throughout their entire term 
the reputation, expressed in the language of this people, 
" there never has been no better behaved regiment in this 
neighborhood." There was no good reason why the people 
with whom we came in contact should not receive kind 
treatment at our hands ; leaving to the government to do 
justice to all who deserved merited punishment. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 57 

<;i:n. cowden's headquarters. 

The headquarters of Gen. Gowden, who commanded our 
brigade, were at the house of Mr. Miner, who owned the 
hill where we were encamped, and a large tract of land about 
it. The cluster of buildings, including that in which the 
General and his wife then resided, were, from their age and 
roughness, worthy of a place in Lossing's Field Book. 
Logs predominated in most of them, and the wind whistled 
merrily through the walls of some of the out-buildings. 

OTHER (AMI'S. 

Almost directly north of the headquarters, but hidden by 
a small piece of pine woods, was the camp of the Twenty- 
second Connecticut, in an opening surrounded by a forest of 
pines, which broke the force of the winds and saved it from 
bleakness. In one thing the Connecticut boys were quite 
ahead of us. They had a splendid national banner, which 
floated high above their encampment, and quite outshone that 
of any regiment we had seen. 

The Fortieth Massachusetts were, as before mentioned, 
encamped in awalley to the left of the General's headquarters. 
With their background of evergreen, and the distant hills 
bounding the horizon, the picture was a very pleasing one. 
The Blue Ridge (fifty miles distant, it was said,) could be 
plainly seen in the northwest, with one peak, called by 
some "Sugar Loaf," and by others "Slaughter Mountain," 
crowning the range. 

GEN. COWDEN. 

The General was frequently present when the Eleventh was 
out on parade or drill, and his tall figure became as familiar 
as those of our own officers. He was also often present, 



58 HISTORY OF THE 

sometimas with several ladies, at dress-parade, and at 
religious services. Sometimes he was mounted, and at other 

times on foot. His bearing was soldierly, gentlemanly and 
commanding ; his hair reddish, with heavy whiskers, and 
distinctly marked features. He, had well earned the reputa- 
tion of a brave and energetic soldier, such as the Rhode 
Island boys were ready and eager to follow. In obedience 
to orders they felt willing to remain a long time, if need be, 
iu that position, but would have rejoiced if, in a position of 
greater activity, they could have aided more directly in the 
great purpose lor which they were called into service. 

Thi' following anecdotes of (Jen. Cowden are vouched for 
by a member of the Ambulance Corps. They illustrate 
traits which made him popular with his men : 

"On the first night after the Ambulance Corps was 
brigaded, a number of us comrades sat round a large camp 
fire. We were seated on log*. It got to be about eight 
o'clock, and 1 looked and saw somebody right ahead, and, 
said I, 'How are you?' said he, 'Halloa!' k We might 
make room for one more,' said I. k Who might you be? ' 
said another. w My name is Cowden,' he answered. 'What!' 
said we, 'the boss of this crowd?' He says, k I am.' 
fc What you up here for? ' said we. He said, ' I was kind 
o' homesick, and saw a crowd around this fire and thought 
I would come up.' So he spun his yarn the same as the 
rest of us. He would tell his story, and the boys would tell 
theirs ; and so the hours passed pleasantly with the (ieneral 
and his men, till he took out his watch, and saying, ' I guess 
it 's about time I was going home,' he bade as good-bye and 
went to his quarters." 

Gen. Cowden could answer a question with a little story, 
after the style of President Lincoln, as the following account 
will show : 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 59 

k * At Mills' Cross Roads, after we had been there a while, 
the chief of the Ambulance Corps said tome, -Von hitch 
up and go hack to camp and get rations for the men and 
horses.' I said I would, and while 1 was hitching in the 
horses, the General (Cowden) stood about thirteen feel 
from me, and up came one of the colonels — I had an idea 
from his appearance it was Col. Porter — and he said, 'Gen- 
eral, I want to ask you one question.' 'Ask as many as 
you please, and I will answer,' said the General. ' I would 
like to know.' said the Colonel, ' why you placed these regi- 
ments in the shape of a letter V? The Fortieth Massachu- 
setts here; the Connecticut Twenty-second here, and the 
One Hundred and Forty-first New York there, and you put 
the Eleventh regiment way down in the woods.' The Gen- 
eral replied, ' 11' Stuart's Cavalry should come this way, I 
calculate that when Stuart conies up, he is going right by 
yours, and the other regiments, hut they will )u-M'v get by 
the Eleventh Rhode Island.' The Colonel being satisfied, 
turned on his heel and went to his regiment." 

AN UNPLEASANT UNCERTAINTY. 

The 19th of November furnished a good illustration of 
the uncertainty of things military* An order was issued on 
that day to he in readiness to march at ten minutes' notice. 
The news sped to our friends at home. It did us no imme- 
diate harm, tor weeks passed before the order was actually 
given, but it came near costing us a I 'hanksgiving dinner. 
The committee in the city of Providence who had obtained 
Contributions for this purpose and made ready to forward the 
supplies, suspended operations on receipt of the news that 
we had orders, to march. We became, in consequence, 
more faithless as to such orders, which proved to be, as a 
waggish comrade expressed it, " only a cautionary word." 



60 HISTORY OF THE 

BOXES FROM IK OIK. 

A I tout this time a tide of boxes from home, with nice things 
for tlw men of the regiment, sel in. On one day ii would be 
fifty, on another thirty, then seventy-five, and again fifty, 
so thai the Quartermaster, it was said, became alarmed at 
the influx ; )>u! he broughl them to camp with commendable 
promptness, and his patience was hardly ever exhausted. A 
greal variety of articles (•nine in these boxes, and in some 
cases in a "questionable" shape. Sometimes a bottle of 
peppermint or some other essence was packed in the l><>x 
with a cloth around the cork to make ii extra tight. Bui 
the cloth, in rebellion ai sueli a contrivance, quietly soaked 
u|) all the essence ;ind distributed il among all the other 
articles in its company, a result which the friends at home 

did not anticipate. These good gifts were fully appreciated. 

The men needed them, because they were expressions of* love 

and sympathy, which greatly cheered them in the kind of 
life which deprived them of the sweet and elevating influ- 
ences of home. 

'• Wllo OOKS THKRE? " 

An amusing discussion arose ;il this season of our service 
as to the matter of challenging sentinels, and lor a while it 

rivaled in magnitude the discussion of years since, "Will 

saltpeter explode? ' The parties were the three months' 
men, the officers, the United States regulations, and the raw 
recruits. On any day or evening, alter guard or picket duty 
had been performed by any of the companies, you could 

hardly pass a lent but you mighl hear. " Who goes there? 

-Halt!" "Advance," "Grand rounds," etc. Neither 

party was inclined to yield, and the subject gave way. in 

tune, to some new excitement. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. <>1 

THE WEATHER — DISSOLVING VIEWS. 

The weather for the week ending Sunday was very try- 
ing, a cold rain and wind prevailing most of the time. 

Sunday, the 23d, was SO unpleasant, raw and blustering 

thai religious services were omitted, exce.pl thai at dress- 
parade, which had an innovation thai reminded us strongly 
of home, Gov. Sprague's Thanksgiving Proclamation was 
distinctly read in our hearing l>v the Chaplain, who also 
proclaimed thai our Providence Plantation and Rhode 
Island friends had resolved to remember us very substan- 
tially on that day. We could not cheer, we had no orders, 
Init each heart heat a little quicker, and the thoughts of a 
regimcnl of men sped five hundred miles in double-quick 
t ime. 

Dress-parade was rather tough at that season, and our 
commander, Lieut.-Col. Pitman, who had seemed consider- 
ate on several occasions lor the health and comfort of the 
men, treated* lis to a movement which stirred the hoys up 

considerably, dust after the ( 'ha plain concluded the religious 
service, and we were a little shivery, we quickly formed com- 
panies and moved up and down our parade ground at doiible- 
quick, until we became thoroughly warmed up. It was an 
agreeable sighl to see bo large a number of men on a meas- 
ured trot, and, under those chilling circumstances, the boys 
enjoyed it. 

BAKED BEANS AND ROAST BEEF. 

When the men had become so accustomed to soldier life 
that they planned as if they expected to stay, they improved 
their cook-houses as well as their quarters, and increased 
their facilities for cooking. Coming from Yankee land they 
were bound to gratify their desire for baked beans. Thev 
ti 



(r2 HISTORY OF THE 

scoured the country for the Wricks of tumbled-down houses, 
transported them sometimes for a long distance and built 
ovens for each company, or two companies united and shared 
an oven between them. Uncle Sam furnished the beans and 
the pork. Boiled beans soon fell below par. In one instance, 
on Miner's Hill, when a load of bricks had been secured for 
one of the companies, the commandant of the regiment 
(not Col. Metcalf) spied them as they were about to be 
dropped and ordered them to be carried to his own quarters. 
The Captain of that company, however, did not intend to 
be cheated out of his bricks in that style. He ordered out 
his company for drill the next morning, requiring every man 
to take his knapsack strap, marched them off to a spot 
where the bricks could he found, and each man marched 
home with half a dozen bricks in his strap, unloaded them 
at the cook's quarters, and the oven was built. Of brown 
bread there was none, for Uncle Sam did not furnish "hog 
and hominy," as the Confederacy did. Wheat bread and 
hard-tack were the only kinds provided. 

The ovens served to provide roast beef as well, and thus 
the government rations were supplemented with dishes which 
could not have been enjoyed had the regiment been always 
on the march. The men who confined themselves to gov- 
ernment rations, which were abundant and of good qual- 
ity, and let the sutler and the pie vender alone, were among 
the healthiest in the regiment. Some of the companies 
accumulated a considerable fund from the sale of uncon- 
sumed rations, and used them for the benefit of the company 
in various ways. 

As Thanksgiving approached, the Landscape about us began 
to change materially, an I lvinin le 1 us of the dissolving views 
of the stereopticon. The leaves had almost wholly deserted 
all but the evergreen trees, and we could Bee the hills beyond 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. <).'» 

them, and also many a dwelling that had hcon shut out from 
view. Camp after camp appeared in the distance thai we 
knew nothing of before. The village of Falls Church as 
well as the church spire could be seen, and every now and 
then the locomotive and cars of the Alexandria and Lees- 
burg Railroad emerged into view and gladdened the sight. 

THANKSGIVING. 

This New England festival came on the 27th of Novem- 
ber. It was truly a day of thanksgiving to the boys of the 
Eleventh, and, to no small extent, of "sending portions of 
good things." We were agreeably disappointed in the 
weather, for on the night before a fierce cold wind and a 
cloudy sky gave token of a cloudy, snowy day to follow, 
but the morning was calm though frosty, the sun rose in 
beauty, and strange to say, as those who took their morning 
walks through the woods to the brook, can testify, the birds 
sang us a sweet thanksgiving song. 

The regiment was disappointed in one respect. They had 
set their hearts upon an entire holiday ; but after a short 
religious service about ten o'clock, we had, per order, more 
than an hour of battalion drill. It was endured by the men 
with the best grace possible. 

Our public worship was, of course, conducted by the 
Chaplain, who read the 14<Sth Psalm, and the, regiment sang 
America — 

" My country, 'tis of thee." 

A brief and appropriate address followed, in which Mr. 
Gould set forth the remembrances of home, the duty of being 
thankful, the mercies which day by day overlapped the 
trials and hardships by which we were surrounded, and, in 



»;i 



lllsroiM UF TJLK 



conclusion) Urged the duty of praise and gratitude i<» tin* 
Giver of all good. A fervenl prayer to <ic<l for His bless- 
ing and i he singing of 

" Praise God, from whom ;il I blessings liow," 

concluded the exercises, which did nol exceed twenty minutes 
in length. 

The remainder of the day was spent in anticipation, in 
feasting aud enjoyment. The regiment expected h Thanks- 
giving dinner from Rhode Island, and they knew thai three 
large loads came in the nighl before, and more would In* 
lien' .ii mid-day. In due time the} arrived, and, as box 
after box appeared, short faces and merry ones soon had the 
majority. As the boxes were opened and their contents 
displayed, h Hogarth only could have done justice i<> the 

scene. Ill sonic messes I lie plenty reminded one of the 

quails in the wilderness; in others nothing was received; 
hut the liberal souls were many, and ureal effort was made 
that all might he |>leasanil\ reminded <»l Thanksgiving at 

home. 

An impression also prevailed thai a dinner wonld he sent 
from Rhode Island beside the individual donations i" boxes, 
and some had urged their friends i<» delay their boxes in 
consequence. From various causes a lew <>i the men were 
unprovided. 

.Messrs. Talbol and Prince, of I Yo\ idenre, W(M*e a com- 
mittee to bring these gifts to the regiment, and it was 
through greal cnerg\ on their part, and the presence in 
Washington of the Quartermaster, one of our Captains, and 

the Chaplain, that the boXOS came in season. 

The writer learned from Messrs. Talbol ami Prince of 
the liberality, kindness and attention of the officers, agents 
and employees <»t the Camden and Amboy Railroad Com 
pany. They charged nol a cent of freighl from New York 



i:i.i;\ in i II i;i:<;mi;\ I 



«;;, 



to Baltimore) and relieved the committee of all trouble on 
their |>;irt. 

kt A. I). N." puts ii in this way: "Intelligence having 
reached camp thai ili<' entire regimen) was to be supplied 
with on old-fashioned Rhode [sland Thanksgiving dinner, at 
.-in early hour everybody was on the alert) . . . for 
notwithstanding six tons of poultry lefi Providence, as is 
alleged, t<»r the Eleventh regiment, there was not enough 
lor a dinner for one thousand men. One of two things must 
he inn-, the men of this regiment are terrible eaters or six 
tons oi poultry never lefi Providence for its Thanksgiving 
dinner." He goes on to say that, u with Company B every- 
thing was lovely." Its officers made bountiful preparations 
for each and lor nil. One hundred and seventy-five pounds 
of turkey were forwarded to the Company by friend Dis- 
peau, of Pawtucket. A second edition of Thanksgiving was 
enjoyed by Company P» on its return from picket, at which, 
beside turkey and fixings, there was a plum pudding, pre- 
pared by their cook, Mr. Church, and there was a special 
remembrance of friends at home. 

The officers on Thanksgiving day sal down to a (able 
bountifully spread by the Lieutenant-Colonel, and doubtless 
in somewhat better style than the privates; but on the Fri- 
day after, eleven persons sat down to a table in what was 
called the tl Hotel de Miller," which was so spread that the 

private soldiers, lor the time, believed that they Tared as 
well, and had hearts as joyful as I heir superiors. Appropri- 
ate toaStS added zest |o the occasion. 

II feasting and thanksgiving are synonymous, it was 

expanded into Sunday ami alter; lor the pickets which were 
out on Saturday and on Sunday morning, performed duly 

on the drumsticks or carcass of a turkey, as well as guarded 

tla- road to Lew insville. 



66 HISTORY OF THE 

THE REGIMENTAL HOSPITAL AND BRIGADE CHANGES. 

"A. 1). N.'s " excellent account of a visit to the hospital 
we transcribe here : 

"The hospital is in a dwelling-house situated about half a mile 
from camp, and of course, under the charge of Surgeon Perry and 
assistants, aided by Mr. J. S. Pervear, Jr., of Pawtucket, as Hos- 
pital Steward; Mr. E. A. Browne, of Central Falls, as Ward Master, 
and Mr. C. C. Holland, of the same place, as Chief Nurse. There 
are, at the present time, twenty-eight patients in the hospital. The 
diseases are chiefly fever, dysentery and rheumatism. The inmates, 
I think, are better cared for by surgeons and nurses, and greater 
pains are taken to gratify their numerous wishes, than in any other 
regimental hospital in this vicinity. Much pains is also taken to 
gratify the appetites of the sick men, many delicacies being fur- 
nished for them by private eontribution, articles not provided for 
by 'regulation,' such as cakes, lemons, oranges, apples, milk, 
oysters, preserves, etc. Thanksgiving day was duly observed at 
the hospital." 

We note here some changes in Cowden's brigade. On 
the night of the 25th of November, the One Hundred and 
Forty-first New York suddenly appeared as our neighbors, 
taking the place of the One Hundred and Thirty-third New 
York, which left us a few weeks previous, and the Sixteenth 
Virginia arrived on the 4th of December, which gave Gen. 
Cowden five regiments for his brigade. To these were added 
the First Virginia battery, which constituted a part of the 
defence of the hill. This battery was composed mostly of 
Germans. Their orders were given in German. They had 
been in the service more than eighteen months and in many 
battles. They were a fine-looking set of men, and our boys 
were much amused to hear the orders given in a language 
which was all Greek to Rhode Islanders. 

The weather then was especially fine and the roads in 
good condition, the men were as ignorant as friends at home of 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. (>< 

the movements of the army of the country, and only wild 

rumors as to their own future were to be obtained. 

SKIRMISH AND OTHER DRILL. 

The whole regiment, on the 2d of December, received 
orders from Gen. Cowden to drill as skirmishers. This 
somewhat elated the men, because one or two companies 
only were generally drilled for that service. Their ardor 
was dampened somewhat by an order on the following day, 
doubling the hours of drill : allowing an hour and a half 
each for company drill, and bayonet exercise. The latter drill 
was useful and pleasing, but the boys felt that the drill rein was 
drawing rather tight, especially as the battalion drill in the 
afternoon was more likely to be lengthened than diminished. 
There would naturally be some grumbling, but the men con- 
sidered that all orders were to be cheerfully obeyed and the 
profit or loss charged to the benefit of the country. All this 
was more easily borne because the officers were required at 
this time to attend an evening school for instruction, under 
the charge of Lieut. -Col. Pitman. In fact, great pains were 
then bestowed upon the improvement of the regiment with a 
view to active service, and if, at that period, any were ready 
for a rose-water experience and a rest in comfortable winter 
quarters, the experience of the few following months took 
this out of them effectually and made them eager for a move 
to the "front." The health of the regiment at this season 
was far better than could have been expected. Our hospital 
arrangements, before referred to, were unsurpassed. The 
other regiments in the brigade sent four times as many as 
the Eleventh to the general hospital, while those in our own 
hospital were not dangerously sick. 



68 HISTORY OF THE 

BRIGADE DRILL INTENSE COLD. 

On the afternoon of December 4th. a very satisfactory 
brigade drill was had under Gen. Cowden's command. We 
learned in due time that the movements by brigades and 
divisions were but multiples of the movements of the smaller 
organizations, and were reminded of the stories told of 
Napoleon's orders in the height of his power, "My king- 
doms, by the right wheel, march ! ' The same day was made 
memorable by the advent in camp of the wives of Dr. Perry, 
Chaplain Gould, and Capt. Kendrick. It is needless to say 
that they were expected by their lords, and that comfortable 
quarters had been provided for them. 

On the day after the review we had another of those 
interesting seasons of falling into line of battle, having been 
ordered to appear at reveille armed and equipped, the roll 
beinof called after the line was formed. We were treated 
immediately upon this to a short battalion drill before sun- 
rise, which Ave came'to regard as our commander's favorite 
exercise. The only gain that the boys could see in all this 
was an exhibition of promptness in turning out, a sharpen- 
ing of appetites for breakfast, and the satisfaction of learning 
that all the commands in Abercrombie's division were sim- 
ilarly treated, minus the battalion drill. 

On the Sunday morning following, Companies B, C, and 
I were sent out on picket. The men on this duty were 
always allowed a large liberty, and they prepared to resist 
the cold, for it scarcely thawed all day. It was an amusing 
sight on that snapping-cold morning to observe the fanciful 
arrangements of the blankets of the men. Axes rested on 
the shoulders of some ; hatchets in the belts of others ; coffee 
pots parched on bayonets high in air ; sheet-iron stoves were 
lashed on the backs of several, or borne by two on a pole in 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 6i) 

the line ; with an appropriate song or two at starting, and 
hearts beating any tune but sadness, they started off. As 
they passed the guard of the Fortieth Massachusetts, the 
t'aees of the guard, in spite of the sober, serious "present 
arms," which military style demands, were upon the broad 
grin. With such an equipment they could laugh at the cold. 
That battalion drill at early dawn happened to be the drill 
for the day. A snow storm came on about ten o'clock, 
which lasted far into the night and probably ceased in a con- 
flict with the moon, the latter coming off victor. The winds 
were aroused and the cold increased to an extent that for- 
bade the melting of the snow, and gave us the coldest and 
most blustering day of the season. The snow was about as 
deep as in the storm of November. Dress-parade was 
shortened. The lips of the fifers and the fingers of the 
drummers refused to do their office. The dress-parade 
experiment was not tried the next day. 

THE CHAPEL. 

Sunday morning in camp, the 7th instant, was spent" in 
the usual way. In the afternoon, by invitation, all who 
were so disposed proceeded to the chapel, and listened to an 
excellent discourse from Chaplain Gould. Lieut. -Col. Pit- 
man and other officers w r ere present. The presence of ladies 
also added to the homelike character of the occasion. Of 
course there was the usual service of song, reading Scripture 
and prayer. 

This chapel, or as one correspondent called it, our "Log 
Church." was built for regimental purposes, or dining hall 
of the field officers, and used for religious services, by the 
Lieutenant-Colonel's permission, on Sundays and week-days. 
It was transported log by log two miles and set up midway 



70 HISTORY OF THE 

on the east <>t' our encampment, on a lino with the Colonel's 
quarters. Tt was twenty-four ot twenty-live feet square. 
with steep, square roof, all of logs, the peak twenty or 
twenty-five feet from the ground. It was well plastered out- 
side and in. with mortar manufactured from the soil. It had 
a chimney, fire-place and sky-lights. Had the interior been 
plastered as at home, it would have been regarded as a good 
lecture room. The foundation was laid and its erection 
superintended by Mr. Thomas Seekell, of Company 1), for- 
merly of Providence. 

THE WEATHER — BATHING — QUARTERS FOR BOXES. 

The extreme cold gave way to wonderfully warm weather. 
The middle of December came and passed, and, notwithstand- 
ing rumors of departure, we remained at Miner's Hill. 
Sunday and Monday, the 1 1th and 15th, were summer days, 
and on the latter day many of the men bathed in the brooks 
near by. 

A rage for obtaining photographs of themselves and their 
quarters grew up just then among the officers. One of 
those groups included Gen. Cowden. They were greatly 
cherished by the friends at home. 

The first death in the regiment occurred on the loth 
instant, William J. Wyman, of Company D. Tuesday 
brought rain and a gale, and Wednesday brought snow 
squalls and winter once more, proving that the weather at 
that season was quite as changeable as at the north. 

A first-class sensation sprung up suddenly, because the 
men were charged a quarter for all boxes from home, brought 
to them from Washington. The Quartermaster was roundly 
blamed, but there is now no doubt of the fact that he simply 
obeyed orders, and that the money did not go into his hands. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 71 

but into the regimental fund.* Whatever were the good 
intentions in this respect, there still remains an opinion that 
' ' somebody blundered. ' ' 

The news of Burnside's disaster at Fredericksburg:, 
received in camp a few days after the event, caused general 
sorrow, and all the more because the Eleventh was power- 
less to aid in retrieving the loss. 

VARIOUS EVENTS. 

The death of Comrade Wyman produced that impression 
of peculiar sadness likely to result from the first death in a 
thousand men all from the same locality. His funeral took 
place on Thursday, the 18th. 

Among the pleasant events of that season was a visit 
from Hon. A. C. Barstow, of Providence, with wife and 
daughter. 

The Sixteenth Virginia regiment encamped near us about 
the middle of this month, composed of stragglers from other 
regiments. The boys will remember it as recruited in 
Alexandria, commanded by Col. Close, and composed of a 
motley crew of rough, hardy-looking fellows. 

A new arrangement of the mails, which had been irregu- 
lar, enabled us, early in December, to get our letters at four 
o'clock each day, Sundays excepted. The letters were 
delivered by the Chaplain, who acted as postmaster, to the 
orderly-sergeant or clerk of each company, immediately after 
dress-parade. The delivery of the letters to the boys in the 
various company streets was an occasion of lively and inde- 
scribable interest. 

There was some unpleasant fatigue duty performed at 

*This was stopped by an order from headquarters. 



72 



histoid OF THK 



this time. The occasion of drawing long and heavy logs 
for a store-house for the Quartermaster's department, l>v 
order of our commander, was nol specially agreeable to the 
boys, and the only consolation they had was thai '"it was all 
in the mill' months." 

( )n the wonderfully warm day and nightof the 1 5th, Com- 
pany B was ordered on a swret expedition. They were 
excused from battalion drill and made themselves ready for 
duty. Ai five o'clock iJh'y marched to the railroad near 
Falls Church and remained as pickets l<>r the night. A por- 
tion were stationed at proper intervals on the highway, 
crossed by the railroad, while the main body remained in 
an open field near by, and those who slept, had the privilege 
of enjoying their nap in (lit- opm air. All this because a 
rebel cavalry raid was feared, ami also on accounl of tin- 
presence of some guerillas in the neighborhood. Everything 
went well until about hall-past four o'clock, when, according 
lo -A. J). N.," from whose letter this aeeount is taken, it 
commenced raining "big guns" in the '.'old Virginia" style, 
which wet ns through and through in double-quick time. 
At six o'clock we formed in line ami started lor camp, tired, 
wet and hungry, and completely satisfied with our firsl 
"secret expedition." They saw "nary a reb." A large 
number of the eompanv received the full benefil of the 
shower bath, lor. in order that they might do their whole 
duty, even those who were sick in their quarters arose and 

joined the r\pedil ion. 

( )n the liuli, a brigade review !>\ Gen. Cowden came off, 

and on the 22d instant, a brigade inspect ion and review, by 

(Jen. Abercrombie. The latter was at Hall's Hill, two or 

three miles from eamp. The former was witnessed 1>\ ;i 

large number of spectators, including some ladies. It is 
described l>\ --A. I). N." as larger than a dozen Providence 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 73 

4th of Julys. Five regiments of infantry and one battery 
were in line iit the latter, comprising about five thousand 
troops. (Jen. AJbercrombie, it is said, expressed much s ; 1 1 - 
isfaction. 

DEATH <>l HOSPITAL STEWARD PERVEAR. 

Jacob S. Pervear, an enlisted young man of excellent 
character, in Company B, serving in the important |>ost of 
Hospital Steward, who, by his kind and obliging manners, 
had endeared himself to the officers and men of the regi- 
ment, died on the 23d of December after ;i short illness of 
typhoid fever. He was buried on the 24th with appropriate 
ceremonies. We take our account from the letter of Wk A. 
I). N.," in the Pawtuckel Gazette and Chronicle: 



"The ambulance containing the remains was preceded by an 
escort composed of the non-commissioned staff of the regiment 
and sixteen men of Company B, under the command of Sergeant 
Crocker, accompanied by the drum corps. The officers and men 
of Company l'» followed in the rear of the procession. A.rriving at 
the parade-ground, the coffin was taken from the ambulance and 
placed on a ' stretcher,' when appropriate sen fees were performed 
by the Chaplain, consisting of prayer, reading of Scripture, and 
brief remarks; after which three volleys were fired by the escort 
from Company B, and the remains were replaced in the ambulance 
to be conveyed to Washington, thence t<> the home <>r the deceased, 
in charge of his brother, Mr. Henry Pervear, who arrived in camp 
on the 22d instant. Several other companies of the regiment were 
presenl on the occasion, besides a Large number of civilians, as 
well as members of other regiments in the brigade. In the course 
of his remarks. Chaplain Gould made the following appropriate 

poetical quotat ion : 

" Ye number it in days since he 
Strode up the loot-worn aisle, 

With his dark eye flashing gloriously, 

And his lip w readied with a smile; 



74 HISTORY OF THE 

Oh, had it been but told you then 

To mark whose lamp was dim, 
From out those ranks of fresh-lipped men, 

Would ye have singled him? 

***** 

llis heart in generous deed and thought, 

No rivalry might brook, 
And yet distinction claiming not, 

There lies he— go and look." 

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN CAMP. 

Tito picket line of our brigade was considerably extended 
in the latter part of the month, and required a detail of five 
companies, instead of three as formerly. Fine weather 
greeted us on Thursday, which was Christmas morning. The 
men had been graciously relieved from the customary drills, 
when, lo 3 at breakfast time came the order, "Fall in, with 
anus and equipments." Iu a few minutes the regiment was in 
line of battle, and remained so for perhaps an hour. This 
was followed by an order to stack arms and break ranks. 
This was promptly obeyed by hungry men. The line was 
re-formed at ten o'clock, arms were taken and the men dis- 
missed, but required to wear their equipments until noon, 
when they were ordered off. 

Barring the incidents just described, and the encumbrances 
which the men could not shake off until ordered, they sought 
enjoyment according to their own good pleasure. A large 
number of boxer from home to help the men make merry 
with their friends, being reported at Washington, they were 
sent for by order of (Jen. Cowden. The quarters of many 
of the officers and men were decorated in honor of the day. 
Gen. Cowden was serenaded in the evening by the boys of 
the Fortieth Massachusetts. 

One writer says that the alarm in the morning was occa- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 7.") 

sioned by heavy firing heard at an early hour, and another 
says the morning was foggy and Gen. Cowden did not want 
to be caught napping. On the evening following, (Jen. Cow- 
den was serenaded by the officers of the Eleventh regiment. 
The General responded to the compliment in a brief speech, 
asking them to follow only where he led. He was a man of 
deeds rather than words. He stated that he had been in 
thirteen battles and four skirmishes since the war begran. 

The weather for rather more than a week previous to the 
30th instant, was exceptionally fine and mild. 

mills' cross roads. 

About half-pasl eleven o'clock on Sunday night, the 28th 
instant, the significant long roll sounded in our drowsy 
ears. There was no mistake about it, though it was the first 
time most of us had heard it. It said very plainly: ''Turn 
out !" and with hardly a second thought, the regiment were 
out, armed and equipped, into the streets in a few minutes. 
But another order, more strongly impressed, came: " Pack 
your knapsacks and leave behind what you don't need and 
cannot carry." This order was obeyed, and inside of half an 
hour the regiment was in line of battle on the parade-ground. 
Adieu to many a turkey, and many a nice cake, and to quan- 
tities of good things just arrived in many boxes from t la- 
loved ones at home. But there was no alternative, no 
repining, and no delay. Unexpected presents were made, 
and stomachs were distended to meet the emergency, all in 
short metre. Oh! the comfortable quarters that we were to 

leave behind, to be forsaken for shelter tents and the damp, 
cold ground. Nothing was destroyed, however ; new comers 
might have the benefit, and then we might return. 



7l> HISTORY OF THE 

The whole brigade was out. The One Hundred ami 
Forty-first New York w;is lefl to guard the hill, the Six- 
teenth Virginia remained, and one section of the battery. 
The column did not move till more than half an hour after 
midnight. The writer passed along the line to observe the 
spirit of the boys. It was a lull turnout. Songs were 
BUng, jokes were eraeked ; all were in exeelleut spirits for 

the work before them. The effect of so sudden an order 
upon a body of men accustomed to obey without questioning 
was surprising. They only knew that they were to march ; 
they did not know, and seemed to care little, where. 

We moved ;it the word of command; the Twenty-second 
Connecticut, the Fortieth Massachusetts, and the Eleventh 
Rhode Island. It was a line moonlighl oight, no drums 
beating, no loud talking; we were ordered to move on the 
sly. Two sections <>l the First Virginia battery accompa- 
nied the column ; ammunition wagons, and ambulances 
carrying ammunition, were in the train, and it was not long 
before we understood that we were marching to meet the 
enemy it' we could gei within shooting distance of him. 
The route was in a southwesterly direction. A halt of about 
ten minutes was made at Falls Church, and then forward 
till we reached Mills' Cioss Roads, some live or six miles 
from Miner's Hill. The route was over roads in a horrid 
Condition, through mud and water, through woods and 
briars, over fences and broken bridges, double or single tile, 
picking and threading our way, half moonlighl and half 
darkness, tor three hours and a half. This, in heavv march- 
ing order; some knapsacks were very heavy, and the mettle 
of the men was severely tried. The mud holes were nearly 
or quite knee deep. About lour oYlock in the morning we 
tiled to the right and formed in line of battle in a large tield. 
Orders were given to load and cap with as little noise as 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 77 

possible ; to unstrap blankets and wrap them around us to 
protect us against the chill of an atmosphere filled with mist. 
Company B was sent out on picket on the road to Vienna, 
and Company I in the opposite direction, to give notice of 
the enemy's approach. The men will not soon forget how 
they waited till dawn, and sunrise, and broad daylight, and 
no enemy appeared. Three rebel cavalrymen, taken prisoners 
by our cavalry, passed in review before us in the morning. 
Their appearance was not prepossessing; they had straggled 
and were taken in. The Fortieth Massachusetts, the 
Twenty-second Connecticut, and the battery, were, like the 
Eleventh regiment, posted so as to give the enemy a warm 
reception. 

Information came to the headquarters of our division that 
a body of Stuart's Cavalry, some twenty-five hundred men, 
were in the vicinity, in fact had destroyed about two hundred 
thousand dollars' worth of government property at a place 
three miles below Miner's Hill, and our brigade was ordered 
out to intercept them. But the bird had flown, passing that 
way half an hour before. He was too sharp for Gen. Aber- 
crombie, commander of the division, who bad another brigade 
in position not far from Cowden's to assist in the hoped for 
capture of the rebels. It seems that when the Union forces 
were at Mills' Cross Roads, Stuart was at the other cross 
roads a mile and a half distant. Rumor said that except 
for positive orders, Gen. Cowden would have pushed on 
beyond the cross roads and we should certainly have met 
them. True or not, we believed he had the grit to do so. 
Old fogyism, so we thought then, would never have caught 
more than half a dozen of Stuart's cavalry at a time. The 
Blunt and Heron style was needed to nab them. 

Uncertain as to future movements, we remained in our 
position the most of Monday. Camp fires were lighted in 



78 HISTORY OF THE 

the frosty morning, except by the pickets, and burned 
through the splendid, warm spring-like day. Additional 
rations were brought and served out to us before noon. By 
four o'clock we had coffee. The boys had sought what rest 
they could get, had pitched their shelter tents for the first 
time, and began to be merry, when we were ordered to 
strike tents and take a new position in a clean, pine wood. 
Scarcely were they pitched a second time, and the men, 
though early, had begun to turn in, when again the order 
was given ; it was promptly obeyed, and the regiment was 
quickly in line of battle. A half an hour of waiting and 
we took up our line of march over the same rough road by 
a jrlorious moonlight for about five miles, marched into our 
company streets, gave a grand shout, and retired about ten 
o'clock in the old quarters to rest. 

Thus ended our first attempt to get at the enemy. It 
was tough, sharp work. The men behaved well, and seemed 
sorry that the effort was a fruitless one. Half the regiment 
were out on picket Saturday, and up to the time of our 
return had had, at most, but six hours' sleep. A stronger 
force turned out for this expedition than at dress-parade on 
Sunday. 

V A RIETY N K W YEAR. 

The boys were" permitted to rest until reveille, but Tues- 
day night, when a misty rain set in and a heavy vapor 
enveloped our hill, the ominous long roll sounded at nine 
o'clock ; we formed in line of battle ; but were soon sent to 
our quarters and ordered to sleep on our arms. To crown 
that, our knapsacks were packed ready to march at a moment's 
warning. From daybreak the next day until sunset, we 
were treated to a succession of outs and ins. pack and 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 7D 

unpack, sufficient to provoke us, excite our laughter, and 
make us submissive to any order. Regularity in picket duty 
Avas resumed Wednesday morning. That was the beginning 
of the end ; for though owing to firing on the picket lines, 
the long roll was beaten again at two o'clock New Year's 
morning, it amounted to nothing more than breaking: the 
rest of several thousand men apparently for no good cause. 

On the morning of the last day of the year the men were 
mustered, in the usual tedious style, for two months' pay. 
Hundreds of men in the regiment needed their pay for the 
first three months. They had to wait until they could get it. 

New Year's day came. The pickets, who had expected 
stormy weather, cams in on that fins morning to grest their 
comrades in camp with a Happy New Year. To recur again 
to the march to Mills' Cross Roads. There were many con- 
flicting newspaper accounts at the time ; but now it seems 
clear that a large body of rebel cavalry marched through 
and out of our lines on the morning of December 29th, 
not far from where we were drawn up in order of battle. 
The cavalry pickets skirmished with them and captured a 
few, Gen. Cowden's brigade chased them and proceeded as 
far as orders would permit. 

REVIEW OF THREE MONTHS' SERVICE. 

Tuesday, January 6th, 1863, marked the end of three 
months' service for the Eleventh regiment. In that period 
•we saw quite a variety of soldier life, though we made but 
few moves. \Ye had been, however, neither idle nor in a 
position of little consequence. Steel had not crossed steel, 
death-shots had not been exchanged, and we had not been 
enveloped in the smoke of battle. Every available hour 



80 HISTORY OF THE 

was used to prepare us for the deadly conflict. We earned 
the commendation of our first Colonel and <>f the General 
commanding our brigade, for the progress we had made. 

The regimenl enjoyed n large measure of health. There 
were admitted to the hospital within the three months, 
eighty-one patients; sent to the general hospital, lour; died, 
two; returned to duty, forty-five; remaining in the hospital, 
thirty. The prevailing diseases were typhoid malarial lever, 
diarrhoea and rheumatism. The percentage of deaths was 
very small. It was usually ten to fifteen per cent. The 
plan of retaining the sick in our own hospital differed from 
that of surgeons in most regiments. 

This favorable result was largely due to the elevated local- 
ity in which the regiment was posted. When firs! stationed 
there, no man thought the place lit to stay in for a day, hut 
after three months' experience, hardly any one would 

exchange it for that of any camp in the region. The camps 
<»f our neighbors looked well and were made comfortable for 
the season. The Twenty-seeond Connecticut quarters were 
wholly log cabins, regularly laid out ; the Fortieth Massachu- 
setts had tents stockaded with logs or boards; the One Hun- 
dred and Forty-first New York occupied Sibley tents, while 
the camp of the Eleventh combined the style of the ( lonnecticut 
and Massachusetts regiments. The Medical Inspector of 

Abercrombie's division, after a visit at that time to the various 
camps in the division, reported the "Twelfth and One Hun- 
dred and Eighteenth New York, the Fortieth Massachusetts, 
and Eleventh Rhode Island, as models of cleanliness and 
good order." 

The regimenl was in fine condition for active service. 

Out On picket every four days, the boys had a COnStanl taste 

of something beside their snug and comfortable quarters in 
camp, and on the 10th of January an order was issued 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



81 



for the pickets to remain on duty forty-eight, instead of 
twenty-four, hours. Happily we encountered no enemy on 
the picket line, though in the outermost post oi the defences 
of Washington, and in an exposed position. Not many 
months alter, Mosby's guerrillas gobbled up eighty men of a 
Massachusetts regiment near Falls Church, inside of our 



lines. 



\l W YEARS AND M.VV ORDERS. 



New Year's day passed as pleasantly as such a life 
would permit. At two o'clock in the morning Gen. Cow- 
den's stall' presented to him a new sash, Kelt and sahre. 

' ; A. I). N." Bays: "He was surprised in the arms of 

Morpheus." 

Every one knows that New Year's is the day of all days 
lor turning over a new leaf, and our Lieutenant-Colonel 
seemed determined not to he out of fashion, and at dress- 
parade we had a series of most important orders, which 
made every man prick up his ears and listen. We will add 
just here, that our Adjutant, in whom the hoys all took a 
just pride, read these orders with a positive snap, so thai 
every man could hear and receive no uncertain sound. On 

this occasion the most noticeable order was that enforcing 
the Third Article of War, which forbids the " low, demoral- 
izing and disgusting habit of profane swearing," imposing a 
line and imprisonment if necessary. Another order, read at 
the time, made the in »n-coininissione<l officers responsible for 

the conduct and bearing of the men when in line or on I he 

march. It concluded : " It will doubtless he found the case 
that where any regiment has heen false to its name or colors, 
it has been owing to a want of discipline in these matters. 



82 HISTORY OF THE 

It is to be hoped thai the name of the Rhode [sland Eleventh 
will never !><■ tarnished. To prevenl (his, we must remove 
;ill causes thai like this would affect its discipline, destroy 
mutual confidence, cause confusion, and i h i is impair its 
strength in time of action." 

The l;ist order of the scries required that the officers of 
companies should immediately ascertain and report as to the 
amount of clothing which their men would want for the 
next three months. 

AJboul this time a Sixteenth Virginia boy was shot in 
trying to pass the pickets of the Fortieth Massachusetts. 
This regimenl was composed of about as remarkable a set of 
fellows as Sir John FalstaflPs Coventry boys. 

The weather ;it that season was generally pleasant, hut 
storms were frequent enough, however, to make it unlit for 
military movements. Rain and mud, wind and dust, and 
snow enough to carpet the ground, all visited us in a, short 
period. "A. I). N." wrote: "One needs to see the 
'sacred soil' after a heavy rain to form any idea of its 
richness. It is clear as mud and slick as grease. If we 
don't return covered with glory, we shall return covered with 
dirt, for mud is everywhere." 

CHANGES VM> ORDERS TO MOVE. 

The new year brought changes in the officers of the regi- 
ment. Lieuts. Aver. Metcalf, and Howard weremadecap- 
tains and assigned to Companies A, II, and E, respectively. 
Second-Lieu tS. Stone and MathewSOI] were made first 
lieutenants of Companies E ami (J. First-Lieut. Joseph 
T. Snow was transferred from Company (i to Company I. 
Second-Lieut. Cross, of Westerly, was assigned to Com- 
pany (J, ami Second-Lieut. Samuel Thurher was assigned 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. W 

to Company K. Company 1 rejoiced in ('apt. Howard's 
promotion, bul deeply regretted his loss to themselves. 
They had learned to estimate his worth as a man and his 
abilities as an offieer. They had become Btrongly attached 
to him, and they fell that Company E gained a Leader worthy 
of ;i higher position than captain. 

An order came Sunday afternoon, January 11th, to he 
ready to march at short notice. Of course this was a sur- 
prise to the hoys, and they were not officially informed as to 
their destination, Imt guessed thai they would he ordered to 
perform guard-duty at the Convalescent camp. 



PREPARATIONS FOR MOVING. 

There is a place enshrined in every heart, the thought of 
which weaves itself into the events of life and tempers its 
experience from the cradle to the grave. Thai spot is home. 
There are secondary homes also, which, like the reflected 
rainbow, hear stronger or fainter resemblance to the true, as 
the state of the atmosphere in the one. or surrounding cir- 
cumstances in the other, permits. In the ever-shifting life 
of the soldier he sometimes remains weeks or months, as 
the Eleventh did, on the same ground; it is a temporary 
home to him. lie becomes attached to it, and regrets to 
leave it. especially if he has spent no little time and inge- 
nuity in making it cosy and comfortable. Thus it was when 
we were ordered from Miner's Hill, where we had arranged 
matters quite to our liking. Perhaps if we had been 
ordered to Paradise, there might have been some regrel in 
leaving our home-like camp behind. 

Our "moving," for the regiment moved, hag and baggage, 
.1- truly as the people of New York move on the 1st day of 



8 1 HISTORY OF THE 

May, was a military necessity. We understood thnt we 
should be located i)i the vicinity of Alexandria to act as 
guard to the Convalescent Camp; to remain, perhaps, in 
thai monotonous business for the remainder of our time. 
So much do soldiers enjoy a change, that we are sure the 
men would have made ready as cheerfully for a march to a 
fighl as t<» engage in the new duty which was before them. 
The men wondered thai the Eleventh was ordered upon 
such a duty, and finally guessed that the order previously 
read on dress-parade, commending our camp as a kk model 
of cleanliness and good order," and our general reputation 
for good behavior, had much to do with it. That answered 
curiosity, if nothing more. 

SELECTION OF A CAMP. 

The first thing to be done was the selection of a camp, 
and, on Monday, the 12th, our commander, the Chaplain 
and Quartermaster proceeded to the vicinity of the Conva- 
lescent Camp, and selected, in view of the needs of the 
regiment, the best Location they could find. 

The next day, Lieut. Burlingame, by profession a civil 
engineer, with a detail of several men each, from Companies 
E, 1), 1>, and I, to which were added the Pioneer Corps, 
went on to the ground to lav out and make ready lor the 
camp. There were some attractions in that service, and the 
men started off in excellent humor. The Quartermaster's 
teams transported the knapsacks of the men and all the 
necessary utensils, tents and provisions, and they were pre- 
pared, as they were not to return, to spend the night com- 
fortably <>n the new camp-ground. 

The pioneers marched with the teams, and were longer on 
the route. The work was begun towards night, hut soon 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 85 

ceased as darkness drew on. They had previously built 
their camp-fire and made their coffee, so they pitched their 
tents, and the Lieutenant and his men lay down together 
and made themselves comfortable till morning. They 
worked steadily the next day till after the regiment arrived, 
wind, was past one o'clock. The boys of the regiment fell 
to with a will. A tented city soon occupied the -round, 
eight Sibley tents to a company, and the men made them- 
selves as comfortable as possible for the night. 

The g en e r al impression then was, that they would not 
exchange for Miner's Hill. The pleased and half-displeased 
with the new location were about equally divided. 

THE MARCH FROM MINER'S HILL. 

Thoug h but a march of six miles, yet, with its accompani- 
sts, it was no ordinary inarch. -Equipment" wrote <>( 
i, : •• It was not without regretthat the men trod our beauti- 
ful parade-ground tor the last tine-. Round after round of 
cheers were given by the different companies as they passed 
their streets. . . The hoys were jolly, 'anything for a 
change,' said they, and so. with a merry son-, we marched 

away.' 1 

It was most noteworthy that the hoys took With then, 
almost everything that could be transported, an abundance 
of government teams being furnished at the instance oi our 
commander. "Even before our departure the vandals had 
begun their work. Representatives of high and low degree 
from several neighboring regiments, came to see what they 
could find to add to their convenience." -The men of 
other regiments swarmed like bees," says another, -around 
our conveniently constructed quarters, bought what they 
could, that the men could not take, received thankfully what 



s 



86 HISTORY OF THE 

was given thorn, appropriated, as soon as the feet of our 
men left the threshold, everything that was left ; tore the 
quarters in pieces after the tents were struck, and in a very 
short space of time made our camp a desolation.'' "Some 
'odd trophies,'' says "Equipment," "gathered at our 
encampment were borne away. Upon the shoulders of one 
sat a glossy-coated mouser ; here the homeliest of dogs 
trudged along by a soldier's side, and a lame black crow 
adorned the knapsack of another." They took stoves, 
boards, windows, kitchen utensils, and many articles useful 
for what they called the regular boarders, and, though there 
were nearly fifty teams for officers and men (three being 
allowed to the men of each company) , some of the compa- 
nies hired extra teams to transport their boxes, stuffed with 
all sorts of soldiers' "nick-nacks." 

The march was made in good order and with reasonable 
dispatch. "Sometimes our regiment had been made to 
' double-quick,' and then to halt at the pleasure of some ill 
marching regiment ahead of us ; but this time we were 
alone, and were enabled to complete our journey with 
unbroken ranks." The column with the barrage train was 
nearly a mile long. "It was truly a beautiful sight as it 
wound its way through the woods and across plains to our 
place of destination." 

The regiment was not overmarched. A halt was made 
for dinner, and a corps of men went ahead to select the best 
route. We left Miner's Hill about ten o'clock in the morn- 
ing of January 14th, and arrived at the new camp about 
half-past one. 



ELE V EN Til 1 5 EG I M E N T . 8 7 



PART II. 

(AMI' METCALF. 

"('amp near Fori Richardson, on the road to Alexandria," 
and " Camp near Camp Convalescent, " headed the letters 
of the men, until the camp was named. The impression 
then made upon the mind of a northerner was, that no one 
seemed able to tell you of your whereabouts or how far it 
was to anywhere, or the names of any places in the vicinity 
smaller than large cities or large rivers. For instance, we 
were told that we were at Frazer's Farm ; some said 
Frazer's Mills, and some, Green Valley. Our camp was in 
a "beautiful valley surrounded by hills." "A pleasant 
place, yet the dead and the living are side by side, for a 
private burial place, with an occasional monument, is just in 
the rear of the officers' tents." By another writer, "our 
location was a very fine one, and it was thought would be a 
healthy one, if comfortable quarters were arranged, as the 
men proposed to themselves on their first arrival." The 
tents ranged nearly north and south. On the west side and 
northwest corner was a large grove of pine woods. On a 
height behind us was Fori Richardson ; hardly a quarter of 
a mile opposite, was the high land, known as Arlington 
Heights. In a southeast direction, looking out over the 
Potomac and the wide Hats along its banks, was Fort Scott. 
On the distant hills, up the valley, Fort Albany. To the 
southeast, an opening reaches to the Potomac, while the 



88 HISTORY OF THE 

valley stretches to the right and includes Camp Convalescent. 
Crowning the hills on the south, a couple of miles or more 

distant, was Fairfax Seminary, transformed into a hospital, 
and to the southwest, Fort Blenker was visible. Forts 
Lynn, Barnard, and Ward were also in view. 

This was rightly called the Green Valley, but before we 
could enjoy the season that would beautify the whole region 
with verdure and flowers, we were more than two hundred 
miles farther to the sunny south. 

QUARTERS GUARD DUTY. 

Ill the Sibley tents, then occupied, there was an entire 
change of messes. What a breaking of ties that had been 
formed during the three months' previous service, what diffi- 
culties in the formation of new messes, what queer and 
amusing combinations were made, how, finally, all settled 
down into a harmonious contentment with the new order of 
things, we leave to the re-creating memory of every comrade 
in the regiment. Each mess was composed of twelve men. 
'more or less. All slept upon the ground. Some laid down 
boards and some pine boughs to shield them from the damp- 
ness, or make softer couches. From the first day of our 
arrival the weather was unfavorable. The thermometer Sat- 
urday. Sunday and Monday, the 17th. l<Sth. and 19th, stood 
at sixteen, ten. and twelve degrees, in the order named, and 
the men were taxed to the utmost to keep comfortable. Had 
there been no stoves then- would have been real hardship. 

Guard duty at Convalescent Camp began at once on 
Thursday, the loth, and the men were on duty every other 
day, either at that camp, the new barracks, not then finished, 
or our own camp. The service was a heavy one, and the 
men began to see that there was work to be done more 
wearing than going to the front. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 89 

Guard duty was specially trying on Tuesday, the 20th, 
when the severest rain storm thus far experienced, began and 
Lasted for the two succeeding days. The mud and water 
heat anything we had seen at the north. The wind drove 
the rain fiercely upon the clothing of the men and upon the 
tents, but they endured it with a good deal of grit. The 
floor of many a tent on Tuesday night showed large pools 
of water upon it, which proved the utter worthlessness of 
the covering. The next day, the staff officers and surgeons 
came round, and, after, personal examination, condemned 
(in military style) forty-nine of the eighty tents. This is 
not an overdrawn picture. Hundreds of letters, written 
home at that date, conveyed much stronger impressions of 
our evil condition than is given here. One correspondent of 
that date wrote: 4t For three days it is difficult to say 
whether we have travelled by land or water." 

Company B enjoyed a visit from Messrs. Stafford W. 
Razee, James G. Fales, Jabez Wilmarth, and Joshua Clark, 
of Central Falls. They made themselves substantially wel- 
come, and Mr. Razee provided for the company a liberal 
supply of stamped envelopes. Mr. Parley Mathewson, of 
Providence, visited the regiment about the same time, and 
called upon a large number of the men. Alexander Brown, 
of Company I, was detailed as shoe-maker to the regiment, 
which proved to be as profitable to him as k ' shoe-maker to 
Her Majesty." The event of the 22d instant, was the 
arrival of a new colonel, formerly Maj. Horatio Rogers, Jr., 
of the Third Regiment. 

COL. HORATIO ROGERS AND CAMP METCALF. 

Favorable reports of Col. Rogers had preceded him. He 
took command on the evening of the 23d instant, in the fol- 



90 HISTORY OF THE 

lowing order, which was read by the Adjutant on dress- 
parade. It chanced to be a fine, mild day, seemingly fur- 
nished for this occasion : 

Headquarters Eleventh R. I. Volunteers, 
Camp near Fort Richardson, January 23, 1863. 

General Order, No. 1: 

Comrades: The Colonel commanding comes to you with the 
highest anticipations for the future. Were it not so, he would 
never have left the 'nave veteran Third to link his fortunes with 
yours. Your former Colonel has assured him that no standard of 
excellence is too high for you to attain. Undaunted courage, strict 
obedience, will make you soldiers; nothing else can excel in these 
qualities, and it will he an honor for any of you to have belonged 
to the Eleventh Rhode Island. Let us never shrink from any duty 
that God and our country may demand of us. 

Comrades, your Colonel will cheerfully make any sacrifice for 
your welfare. May we never be disappointed in each other. With 
a firm trust in God, let us press boldly forward in this great cause, 
and may the only Giver of victory crown our efforts with glorious 
success. 

Ckxkeal Order. No. 2: 

In honor of the first colonel of this regiment, this camp will 
hereafter be known and designated as Camp Metcalf. 

" J. B. G.," in connection with the above orders, thus 
refers to our previous commanders: ''Col. Metcalf and 
Lieut.-Col. Pitman have discouraged profanity, intemper- 
ance and Sabbath-breaking, by counsel and conduct, and we 
are happy to know that the same regard for good morals 
and a recognition of the Almighty are to commend our new 
commander to our respect ami admiration." 

A FLEA FOR THE ELEVENTH TO BE SENT TO THE FRONT. 

Within a week after taking command. Col. Rogers made 
an earnest effort, as appears from the following letter, to 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 91 

have the regiment removed from the Convalescent Cam}) 
and take the field : 

Headquarters Eleventh Regiment, R. I. Vols., i 
Camp Metcalf, near Convalescent Camp, Jan. 30, 18n:>. j 

Captain:— I respectfully and most earnestly apply to have my 
regiment relieved from duty as guard of the Convalescent Camp, 
and that it may be again attached to Cowden's brigade. The regi- 
ment is of fine material and well officered, but having been out 
(here) for many months, it needs regular drill to keep it from 
demoralizing. Both officers and men are desirous of seeing active 
service, and I certainly wouldn't have resigned the position of 
major in the Third Rhode Island, a three years' regiment, now in 
South Carolina, with the lieutenant-colonelcy vacant, for the col- 
onelcy of this, had it not been for the fond hope and expectation 
that we should be actively employed here, which hope and expec- 
tation are equally entertained by his Excellency Gov. Sprague, 
who, by them induced me to take this, a nine months', regiment. 

Could we be sent back to Gen. Cowden's brigade, I could have 
the opportunity to drill the regiment some, which the nature and 
extent of this duty now utterly forbids, half the regiment being on 
guard duty daily. When the roads were opened I should hope to 
be ordered to the front. While, of course, rendering that prompt 
and cheerful obedience to all orders in the performance of any duty 
entrusted to me, as becomes a soldier, I shall still ardently long for 
leave to be placed where I can fit my regiment for the field with 
the prospect of taking it. 

Hoping the General will excuse my troubling him, I trust he will 
give this communication a favorable consideration, and so, do all in 
his power to assist me in again meeting the enemies of our country 
in a fight; an opportunity which I fear too many do not desire. 
I am. Captain, 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

H. Rogers, Jr., Col. Eleventh R. I. Vols. 

To Capt. Carroll H. Potter, A. A. Adjutant-General, Head- 
quarters Defences of Washington. 

The above letter was forwarded to Brig. -Gen. John P. 
Slough, Military Governor of Alexandria, and by him 
referred to Maj.-Gen. Heintzleman in command of the 



92 HISTORY OF THE 

defences of Washington, who returned it to Gen. Slough 
with this statemenl : 

The number a1 the Convalescent Camp will be reduced soon, and 
the regimenl relieved as soon as possible. 

By command of 

Maj. Gen. II EINTZLEMAN. 

< ' V.RROLL 1 1. Potter, a. a. ( ;. 

This reply was returned to Col. Rogers by R. C. Gale, 
A. A. General at Alexandria. 

MORE BAD WEATHER — [MPROVED QUARTERS. 

Tuesday, the 27th, brought a steady rain, day and night. 
The storm continued into Wednesday, turned to hail, and 
then snow, of which twelve to fifteen inches fell before the 
next morning, and, in spite of melting, left eight or more 
inches on the ground. The roads were in a dreadful condi- 
tion. Government and all other teams gol stuck without 
warning and almost without redemption. On the road to 
Washington, up to the hub was called an easy depth, and 
the boya told big stories of the depths they sounded as they 
marched to their posts at Cam]) Convalescent. For all this, 
we had not then sounded the depths of the "sacred soil." 
The discomfort of the men was very great, and it was 
endured tar belter than could have been supposed, and the 
health of the regiment was not seriously affected. 

It was darkest before the dawn. The tide turned ; stock- 
ades rose in ever) part of the cam]). Bunks for the men to 
sleep in were built in the outer circle of the tents ; the stove 
occupied the center, and the merry songs of the men pro- 
claimed that they had begun to "live." Uncle Sam fur- 
nished bed-sacks and straw to fill them, for the regiment, and 
tin' men were not slow to appreciate it. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 93 

The expense of stockading the tents and erecting bunks 
came out of the pockets of the men and amounted to about 
one hundred dollars for each company. 

PAY DAY AND CHANGES. 

One of the most interesting items to be noted at that sen- 
son was. not the mustering for pay, which the boys had come 
to consider as an empty farce, hut the actual signing of the 
pay-roll, and the receipt of some of the money due the regi- 
ment from the government. Each man was paid for one 
month's services to November 1st, and from the day of his 
enlistment to the 1st of October. The men were glad to 
get ;i part, but rumor then said that the reason for not 
receiving all. was the failure to get the regimental rolls to 
Washington at the specified time. If this was so, the depart- 
ment at Washington was free from blame. 

Mr. Munroe, Allotment Commissioner, came round the 
next day, and a large number of the men sent home what 
they could spare from the small amount received, some 
seventeen or eighteen dollars to each private. The men also 
learned how large bills the sutler had against them. 

Quite an unexpected change was made on the 3d of 
February. Companies C and K, being detailed to guard the 
Distributing Camp, two miles nearer Alexandria, broke up 
house-keeping that morning, on one of those sudden orders 
so peculiarly military, struck their tents, pulled down their 
stockades, packed their baggage, took all the lumber they 
could carry, and, on their arrival, made themselves as com- 
fortable ;is possible. 

The Distributing Camp was often called the "Stragglers' 
Camp," and comprised, then, several thousand soldiers from 
Camp Convalescent, that were in condition to go to their 



1)4 HISTORY OF THE 

regiments, and also those who had strayed away from their 
regiments, or had been left behind on a march. This dis- 
memberment of the Eleventh was not pleasing to the men ; 
the family would much rather have kept together. A few 
days previous to this, Companies B and F, who were fre- 
quently thus favored, received a flying visit from Col. Jacob 
Dunnell and C. B. Farnsworth, of Pawtucket, and John 
Dunnell, Esq., of New York. Col. Dunnell presented fifty 
dollars to Company F, to aid them in stockading their quarters. 
The last day of January brought with it a regimental 
inspection by Col. Rogers. 

COLD WEATHER HOME REMEMBRANCES MUSIC. 

The disagreeable and dirty weather made an unfavorable 
impression, respecting our camp, upon officers, men and 
visitors, but a drier spell came in February, with very cold 
nights and mornings and the chilliest of snowy atmospheres, 
one-third of the time, for variety. The only thermometer 
we had seen was broken, and the degree of cold could not 
be recorded, but on one of the mornings referred to, one of 
the stalwart men of Company I froze his lingers while on 
his way to the spring and back for water. It seemed the 
coldest morning we had known in Virginia. 

Reference has already been made to the fine views that 
could be had from the- many heights around Camp Metcalf; 
we return to this subject again to couple it with another. 
The view of Washington and the Potomac from some of 
these points reminded us strongly of Providence. The 
Navy Yard answered to Fox Point ; the east branch of the 
Potomac to the Seekonk river ; the bridge, some distance up, 
to the Red bridge, and this was so striking, that the moment 
our boys obtained their fust view from Fort Scott, on the 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 05 

morning of their arrival at our new camp, a large number 
being present, they immediately began to point out the 
localities which reminded them so strongly of home. 

At this camp our music took on some variety. The 
buglers, who were appointed when the order came for the 
regiment to drill as skirmishers, took part on several occa- 
sions with pleasing effect on dress-parade. We still enjoyed 
our drum band with Mr. Dunbar as leader, and fife-major 
Ornam L. Patt, of Central Falls, well known among the 
musicians of Providence, who was the instructor of the 
band from the beginning. The leader of the buglers was 
Mr. Robert Seiler, a gentleman who served his time in the 
military service of Prussia, and thrice enlisted in the service 
of our own country. But there was a desire for something 
still better, and it was decided to organize a brass band. 
Col. Rogers headed the subscription list, followed by the 
field and line officers, and a long list of men ; in two weeks 
the amount required, nearly four hundred dollars, was 
obtained, and early in February the band began their 
practice. 

On the Sabbath, the 25th of January, the regimental 
religious services were held in the open air, for those who 
were not on guard, and on the following Sunday, the 
weather being stormy, services were held by invitation in 
the Colonel's mess tent. The Chaplain's discourse was 
from the words : " Fear not them that kill the body, and 
after that have no more that they can do," etc. The large 
tent was filled. Half a dozen commissioned officers, includ- 
ing the Colonel, were present, and when the sermon was 
over, by invitation of the Chaplain, the great majority 
remained to partake of the Lord's Supper, Col. Rogers 
being of the number. 



9() HISTORY OF THE 

orit second colonel's farewell. 

After a brief stay he was taken from as. "A. I). N.," 
in his letter inquires, "Do we get all the good ones first? 
Somebody plays the Dickens with our colonels. He had 
already made a favorable impression ; the men had just 
begun to appreciate him. His farewell address to the regi- 
ment at dress-parade, Wednesday, February 4th, was excel- 
lent. He informed us that lie had received a commission to 
command the Second regiment, and plainly intimated that 
because it was at the front, had been longest in the service, 
and would likely see the most active service, he thought it 
his duty to accept the position as its colonel. If he had 
found fault needlessly, he hoped that it might be overlooked ; 
if for good cause, he trusted that the regiment would profit 
by it. He expressed a deep interest in the Eleventh, and. 
from his own observation, spoke in favorable terms of its 
good character. He concluded with the remark, that his 
prayer would ever be that the kind Father and Killer of us 
all would continue to watch over and bless the Rhode Island 
Eleventh." 

IMPROVEMENTS — VISITORS — OUR HOSPITAL — CHANGES. 

A few days of sunshine in the middle of February dimin- 
ished the mud in a degree. Our streets, instead of appear- 
ing like so many elongated dough heaps, began to take on 
shape and symmetry. Corduroy sidewalks and graded 
streets took the place of the nuid-and-water style of a few 
days previous, and the careful police regulations made the 
location comparatively healthy. Corduroy roads and bridges 
over brooks, on the route of the regiment to the Convales- 
cent Camp, and in various other localities where needed. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. ST7 

won- rapidly constructed. The majority of the tents were 
stockaded or boarded to the height of four or five feet, 
and made quite comfortable. It was this constant effort 
at cleanliness and comfort which made the Eleventh unusally 
healthy ; while, under pther circumstances in such a location, 
a large amount of sickness must have prevailed. 

We were favored in this month by visits from AbnerGay, 
Esq., of Providence, who came to visit his son, and was 
warmly welcomed by many Providence friends, and by Col. 
William Yiall. wife and daughter, who came to see us on 
the 10th instant, and witnessed our first battalion drill alter 
we left Miner's Hill. Col. Viall gave us a pretty thorough 
inspection, and his visit to US was very welcome. We need 
not disguise the fact that visits from Providence ladies, who 
took an interest in the regiment, were rejoiced in by the 
soldiers, especially in view of the fact that they had 
been shut out for months from the refining influences of 
home and the genial influences of female society. Provi- 
dence ladies were always heartily welcomed by Rhode 
Island hoys. 

At this time none were dangerously sick. The number 
in the hospitals was not above the average when we were 
upon Miner's Hill, though it is true, that for a few days at 
a time, a larger number were excused by the Surgeon from 
duty. An old-fashioned house, just to the northeast of our 
encampment, was appropriated for a hospital, and being well 
warmed and properly ventilated, the men who received 
attendance there were quite as comfortable as at home. 
Every attention was paid to the patients that they could 
receive, in the absence of wives and mothers and sisters. 
The number in hospital in the middle of February, was 
thirty-one. Our hospital arrangements were not surpassed 
by those of any regiment in the department. 
9 



98 HISTORY OF THE 

Our country's soldiers were constantly receiving assistance 
from the United States Sanitary Commission. They 
bestowed promptly and bountifully anything they had in 
the way of comforts and medicines and delicacies, without 
the intervention of red tape, that would benefit the sick 
soldier, and such was the testimony of the surgeons and 
patients in our own hospital. The record of their work has 
passed into history, and its example has been emulated in 
other countries. A more disinterested and devoted body of 
men were rarely ever associated for a benevolent purpose. 
A similar testimony should be given in behalf of our own 
State Sanitary Commission. At that time, William E. 
Hamlin, Esq., of Providence, presented to Company I a 
ten dollar case of homoeopathic medicines. We learned on 
the morning of the 13th of February, that the other regi- 
ments of Cowden's brigade were encamped on the plain 
above Fort Richardson. 

Time and the faithful performance of duty brought further 
changes in the officers of the regiment. Second-Lieut. 
Burlingame, of Company I, was promoted to first lieutenant, 
and assigned to Company H. Orderly E. K. Thompson, of 
Company H, was promoted to be second lieutenant of Com- 
pany H. He was much beloved and esteemed by the 
officers and men of his company, and was thoroughly 
familiar with his duties as an officer. Orderly N. K. Rob- 
inson, of Company E, was promoted to second lieutenant of 
Company E. 

As soon as the boys of Company H learned of the good 
fortune of of their Orderly, a subscription paper was started, 
headed by Capt. Joel Metcalf, with a V, and in less than 
half an hour over fifty dollars were collected for a sword, 
sash, belt and shoulder straps. They were presented to him 
on the afternoon of the 14th instant, as a tribute of their 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 99 

high appreciation of him as an officer, and their attachment 
to him as a man. The presentation was made by Sergt. 
Charles H. Bartlett, who addressed the new officer appro- 
priately in behalf of the company. Lieut. Thompson, 
wholly surprised, with difficulty found words to utter a 
fitting response. The outfit was neat and beautiful. 

(AMP CONVALESCENT. 

To give an adequate idea of the service that the Eleventh 
regiment rendered during three months of its term, it is 
important that the Convalescent Camp should be fully 
described. V 'A. D. N.," speaking of it at the time we 
arrived there, writes : 

" The present camp is in a filthy eondition, and a shame to those 
who have charge of it. The camp was originally located about two 
miles nearer Alexandria, in the region of what was called the Dis- 
tributing Camp. When we took possession of Camp Metcalf they 
were located in the Green Valley. What was filthy before we went 
there, by the middle of February had become clean, and a very 
different affair from what it was when the government established 
it. It was under entirely different regulation. It grew rapidly 
from a small number to a moderate sized army, and what had 
\een confusion soon became order and system." 

Our first view of this camp was street upon street of tents 
covering many acres, sufficient to accommodate nearly ten 
thousand soldiers, while at the western end the frames of 
barracks for five thousand men were just rising. As fast as 
these were completed, the dwellers in tents removed to the 
more comfortable and substantial structures, until every tent 
was vacated, the barracks filled, and the remainder sent to 
their regiments or discharged from service. 

The buildings going up when we arrived there, were com- 
pleted in a little more than a month. They were situated 



100 HISTORY OF THE 

on a pleasant hillside and surrounded by pine woods. There 
were two rows of buildings, twenty in each row, and about 
two hundred feet apart, ranged north and south, with ten 
more barracks across (lie northern end. The whole was 
situated on the road to Alexandria, and extended back several 
hundred feet. From the upper end could he had a tine view 
of the Potomac and the surrounding country. The barracks 
were each about one hundred feet long, provided with bunks, 
with bed sacks and blankets for one hundred men. The 
woods surrounding the camp were trimmed up high and all 
the under-brush was cut away. 

Next to the barracks, and just east of them, were the cook 
and eating-houses, which were very large, and, in addition to 
the cooking apparatus, provided with tables for over three 
thousand men to eat at one time. Wells were dug and an 
abundance of water conducted into all the buildings ; other 
conveniences were added, so that the camp could be kept in 
a cleanly state. Headquarters were in the centre, fronting 
the road, and a line of officers' quarters extended back 
through the centre of the cam}). On the 20th of February, 
the barracks were full, and contained a little more than five 
thousand men. To what we have already described, add 
four large hospitals with cook-houses attached to them. 

The arrangements for cooking for this good-sized village, 
were on a very large and complete scale, and the food was 
well and thoroughly cooked. 

To give an idea of the magnitude of the business, in one 
of the ranges were eight square kettles for coffee, holding 
fifty gallons each; six boilers for meat, which held forty 
gallons each, and eight large ovens for roasting. Water 
pipes conveyed water to th^si' establishments, and an exten- 
sive bakery furnished excellent bread. 

It was frequently stated that there were at one time from 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 101 

fifteen thousand to seven jen thousand men in the Convales- 
cent Camp, but it is now clear that this number probably 
included all the men in the Distribution Camp as well. On 
our arrival there, there were, perhaps, nine thousand men. 
On the 10th of February, there were, including commis- 
sioned officers, a few more than seven thousand. Under a 
provision of Congress, large numbers were daily discharged 
as unfit for service, and this number, nearly three hundred, 
was not made good by the daily arrivals. 

The camp was under the command of Lieut. -Col. 
McKelvy, an officer in the regular army. There were three 
divisions, of New England, Middle and Western troops. In 
the middle of February, sixteen hundred or eighteen hun- 
dred Pennsylvania troops remained in Sibley tents. The 
Loudon and Hampshire Railroad, with which it was con- 
nected by a branch road, constructed by the government, 
was but half a mile from this camp. 

The convalescents were greatly demoralized. The major- 
ity had seen terrible service with McClellan on the Peninsula, 
and at the second battle of Bull Run, under Pope, and in 
his other battles and retreats, and a stranger going among 

© © © © 

them could be entertained for days by the wonderful accounts 
of the scenes through which they had passed. Almost every 
State then in the Union was represented there. Writes 
"A. D. N." : "You could there behold some of the most 
deplorable events of the war ; young men, middle-aged and 
old men were congregated there, suffering from disease or 
recovering from wounds received in battle, hoping in some 
way to be discharged from further service. Others, able- 
bodied, waiting and contriving how to skedaddle. It was for 
the benefit of this latter class that our regiment was there." 
The convalescent boys did not relish the arrival of the 
Eleventh, blest with health, large in numbers, and strong 



102 HISTORY OF THE 

in determination to do an honest and strict guard duly, and 
they vented their feelings in many silly ways and foolish 
speeches. They even thoughl of a rebellion on their own 
hook, on account of the stringency of the guard placed over 
them, and k; A. I). N." remarks, in reference to this: 
"Perhaps we may as well fight here as farther down in 
Dixie." 

On one occasion there occurred a mutiny in a stone build- 
ing, two stories high ; the upper story being reached through 
an opening in the floor by a ladder. At this opening stood 
the infuriated men with axes, shovels and whatever they 
could lay hold of, and threatened to kill the lirst man that 
ascended. Lieut. Stone, of Company E, officer of the 
guard that day, was apprised of the tumult and repaired at 
once to the scene. He ascended the ladder, pistol in hand, 
threatening to shoot the first man that offered resistance. 
They were impressed that the lieutenant was in earnest, and 
fell back, and one by one were sent below and taken care of. 
At a court martial held soon after, two of these men were 
adjudged guilty of an assault and insubordination, and sent 
to the Rip Raps for two years. 

This was not much to be wondered at. Patriotism does 
not thrive on " wounds and bruises and putrefying sores," 
on bad rations or filthy quarters, and the government chose 
the true remedy in providing roomy and healthy quarters, 
excellent food, the care that they needed and deserved, and 
hospital arrangements of the best kind. In this large num- 
ber of men there were very many whd were not grumblers, 
and who, notwithstanding all the hardships they had endured, 
were ready to do battle again for the dear old flag. 

Days of sunshine sometimes came to these men, individu- 
ally and collectively. "The Pennsylvania soldiers in this 
camp, on Saturday, February 1 1th. were treated to a hand- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 103 

some collation, furnished by the Liberality of the citizens of 
Goshen and Williston townships-, of Chester county of their 
own State. The ladies oi* these two towns prepared eleven 
thousand pounds of provisions, consisting of hams, turkeys, 
chickens, roast pig, apples, pies, cakes, etc. The feast was 
none the less gratefully received for being a surprise. Ad- 
dresses were made by two Baptist clergymen who were 
present, and the soldiers were well pleased with the enter- 
tainment." This account is clipped from the letters of 
"A. 1). N." 

When, therefore, their quarters had been made as com- 
fortable as soldiers' quarters could be, and when access to 
them by their friends or any interested in their welfare was 
easy, quite a deep religious interest pervaded the camp, and 
prayer-meetings were daily held in the chapel tent. 

THE LOST SHEEP CAMP DISTRIBUTION AND OTHER CAMPS. 

The writer and a friend obtained a pass to visit Alexan- 
dria. On their way, they visited Companies K and C, the 
lost sheep of our regimental fold, and were pleased to find 
them in the belief that they had found better pasture than 
in their former camp. Companies C and K were detailed 
as an interior guard to the Distributing Camp, and, like the 
portion of the regiment at Camp Metcalf, were located in a 
position of their own choosing, near their field of duty. It 
was about two miles from Camp Metcalf, on the direct road 
to Alexandria, and but a short distance from the residence 
of a Mrs. Hall, a large octagonal-shaped building, which 
could not escape notice. 



104 HISTORY OF THE 

KEY. DR. CHARLES HALL'S HOUSE. 

"While Companies C and K were stationed at the Distri- 
bution Camp, the officers and some of the men were much 
interested in learning the history of this octagonal house, 
used by Capt. Upham, who was in command of the camp, 
as his headquarters. Although the house was stripped of 
nearly all its furniture, yet enough remained to show that it 
had been occupied by a family of culture and literary taste. 
We soon learned that the place had been the residence of 
Rev. Charles Hall, formerly Secretary of the American Home 
Mission Society, in New York. 

"Dr. Hall's health being seriously impaired, he had built 
a charming home on the road from Leesburg to Alexandria, 
near the famous Fairfax Theological Seminary, and thither 
transported his family ; away from the bustle and turmoil of 
the metropolitan city. But here this beautiful family were 
doomed to bitter sorrow and disappointment. Calamity 
succeeded calamity. A promising son, educated, talented, 
even brilliant, was called from them by death. Another 
son, the idol of the family, just budding into manhood, was 
drowned while bathing. The father sickened and died. 
The widow and daughters were exerting all their powers to 
keep their beautiful home, when the war broke out, and 
this section was first in possession of one party and then of 
the other. 

" Being of northern origin, they were suspected by the 
Confederates, and, when they were in possession, subjected 
to many annoyances. Finally they were obliged to go 
north, and their house was ransacked, their property pillaged 
and much of it destroyed. Their beautiful home was ter- 
ribly marred by war, and at a date subsequent to the time 
the Eleventh were there, the house was burned, and they 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 105 

had lost all. During our stay there, the writer made the 
acquaintance of Mrs. Hall, a woman of matronly dignity, 
cultivated and refined. She had gone to her old home, only to 
find it more a heap of ruins than at her last former visit. She 
stopped at the house of the nearest neighbor, one Mr. Camp, 
who appeared to be a Union man. There Mrs. Hall was 
packing the remnants of her furniture, and what there was 
left of her husband's formerly valuable library, to remove 
them to the north. I have now before me a little book, a token 
received from her hand, entitled ' The Daily Verse Expositor 
for the Acts.' It was written by her lamented husband, and 
published in New York, 1832. Since the war, Mrs. Hall 
was for some years a resident of Providence, one of her 
daughters having married a prominent clergyman of this 
city. Another daughter, a young lady of excellent educa- 
tion, and much refinement, was a successful teacher, widely 
known, and highly respected by a large circle of devoted 
friends." 

As we approached the city our attention was attracted by 
a very long train of baggage wagons, some staff officers 
and a few straggling soldiers. We larned that it was a rem- 
mint of the Pennsylvania Reserves, on their way to a new 
encampment on Miner's Hill. This division originally con- 
sisted of thirteen thousand men. Their ranks had been reduced 
to four thousand, and but twenty-five hundred were fit for 
duty. Who could say that they should not have time to 
rest and recruit? 

On our return to camp, we called at the officers' quarters 
of Company K. Lieut. Thurber was not present, butCapt. 
Mowry and Lieut. Edwards welcomed us heartily, enter- 
tained us for several hours in true soldier-like style, and 
gave us all the information we desired. 

This -camp, which was under the command of Capt. 



106 HISTORY OF THE 

Parkhurst, of Company C, was situated west of the road 
to Alexandria, in a position similar to our old one on 
Miner's Hill. On each side was a deep ravine, and healthy 
breezes had free course over and around the ridge, but the 
scenery was not so inviting. On the Friday after their 
arrival in their new camp, a heavy rain deluged the floors of 
their tents, especially in Company C, and in one instance, it 
was said, to the depth of ten inches ; but they soon had 
well stockaded quarters, comfortable bunks, and everything 
as agreeable as in the other companies. For want of a 
better name we christened that camp, Camp Metcalf, Jr. 

The government sent to this camp all stragglers, all 
detailed privates, all the men fit for duty at Camp Convales- 
cent, and thence they were sent in large squads to their 
respective regiments. There were from five to eight thou- 
sand men then in the camp. The post was under the com- 
mand of Capt. Upham. Contiguous to this camp was a 
camp of recruits, also under the commandant of that post. 

Still nearer Alexandria, and distinct from the Distribution 
Camp, was the camp of paroled prisoners, containing not 
more than five or six hundred men ; and we learned that 
somewhere between Camp Metcalf and Fairfax Seminary, 
was a convalescent horse camp, where horses that had been 
under medical treatment and were on the road to sound 
health, were treated to further rest and a fat pasture. 

A M l SING SCENE PRIZES DUTIES . 

Almost all through February pleasant days were curios- 
ities. In Company I the severe snow storm of the 22d 
was followed by a little fun. A "gay" fellow in one of 
the messes, challenged Rev. Dr. Hawkes (so dubbed by his 
friends) to a duel with snowballs. It was accepted, and 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 107 

at it they went, and soon the whole company turned out to 
witness the scene. Unluckily the foot of the young soldier- 
boy slipped, then came a tumble and a rolling* over, the 
reverend gentleman washed the youth's face thoroughly in 
the snow, and the brave boy acknowledged himself con- 
quered. Towards night the boys in the lower tents had a 
battle with those in the upper, who were led by the commis- 
sioned officers. The contest was long and desperate, many 
a man bit the snow, and in the end a certain tall Captain 
looked as much like a snow man as anything else. Both 
parties claimed the victory. Darkness put an end to the 
contest, and the combatants slept on their arms. 

Most of the tents in the latter part of February were 
turned into armories. The boys began polishing the barrels 
of their Enfield rifles, which were bronzed. Prizes were 
offered in some of the companies to the man who should 
produce the best looking musket. The contest was a sharp 
one, the results brilliant ; and it was not long before the 
muskets of the whole regiment became of the glittering, 
instead of the sombre sort. It was claimed that the bright 
musket made a better mark for the enemy, but the govern- 
ment has not ceased to make the Springfield musket with a 
polished barrel, and doubtless their fine appearance is a stim- 
ulus to the men to keep their arms in excellent condition. 

A prize was also offered for the best shot, and target 
practice, by the various companies, went on for some time. 
The award was to have been made on the 21st, but was 
delayed that Companies C and K might contest for it, and 
when, in the latter part of March, it was decided, it was 
won by Corporal David L. Fales, of Company B. Five 
men put eleven out of fifteen shots into the target. Com- 
pany H did the next best shooting. 



108 HISTORY OF THE 

TRADES AND GAMES. 

The regiment was composed of men of many and various 
professions, trades and occupations, and at Camp Metcalf a 
number of men regularly wrought at their business. The 
shoe-maker of the regiment has been mentioned before. A 
German watch-maker helped to keep good time. There 
was more than one professional barber, and they received a 
good share of patronage. Tailors were employed in mend- 
ing and metamorphosing the worn garments of the men. The 
brick masons and the carpenters found enough to do. The 
Colonel's quarters and the chapel at Miner's Hill, the brick 
ovens in the various camps, the excellent stockades at Camp 
Metcalf and the comfortable officers' quarters in the differ- 
ent camps, fit to live in at any seaside resort, exhibited the 
skill of these latter workmen. A large number of men 
turned carvers, and practiced on beef bones the art of mak- 
ing rings, crosses and a variety of other ornaments. 

For out-of-door amusements, quoits and base ball were 
played on the parade-ground at Camp Metcalf. Chess, 
checkers and other games were enjoyed in the quarters of 
the officers and men. 

HEALTH PROMOTIONS LIBRARY VISITORS. 

The 1st of March marked five months that the regiment 
had been in service, and during that time there were but 
two deaths. Colds and rheumatism were the prevailing 
complaints. About thirty men in that time were discharged 
for disability. "A.D.N." writes: "It takes a whole 
man to be a soldier, to hold out well and hearty, and he 
must not only be strong and tough, but his heart must be in 
the work." 

Among the promotions then made was that of Adjt. Fes- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 109 

senden from the rank of second to that of first lieutenant. 
The same writer remarked truly: u Adjt. Fessenden is 
deservedly popular among the officers and men of the regi- 
ment, and increase of rank is well merited by him, both as 
an officer and a gentleman." 

At that period, through the efforts of Chaplain Gould, a 
small library was procured for the use of the regiment, 
which was gratefully appreciated by those who availed them- 
selves of its privileges. 

Messrs. Sanford R. Pierce and Miles G. Moies, of Paw- 
tucket, also Lewis Fairbrother, Esq., wife and daughter, 
paid a visit to the regiment late in February, and were 
gladly welcomed. 

AWAKE AND ASLEEP. 

In one of the companies was a comrade subject to seasons 
of somnambulism. He went into this state most frequently 
at Camp Metcalf. His performances were as remarkable 
as any noted in the medical books upon this subject. Lying 
in his bunk in the morning, afternoon, or evening, after he had 
come in from guard duty, he would commence talking about 
events that had no reference to the life about him. He 
would dictate letters to some lady friend, about which he 
remembered nothing when he awoke. He would promptly 
tell the time by a watch placed at the back of his head. 
He would get up in the night and hide the candles, soap and 
axe in the stove when there was no fire in it, chuckling to 
himself that the corporal would not be able to find them in 
the morning, when, in fact, the whole mess were looking on. 
He climbed more than once to the top of the tent pole, 
about thirteen feet, with no outer clothing on. He ran 
down to the guard line in the same condition and chatted 
Hi 



110 HISTORY OF THE 

with the guard, received an apple and ate it. He would 
believe it was sunrise when a lighted candle was slowly 
brought near his eyes, and many other interesting things 
mi«rht be told about him. 

The most noteworthy of all, was a grand levee held one 
afternoon, where were present Drs. Grosvenor and Perry, 
the Lieutenant-Colonel and Chaplain, with their ladies, the 
captain of the company and other officers and men, invited 
by one of the mess, the tent being filled. The young sleeper 
began his addresses to those who were introduced to him, 
and to whom he gave his opinion as to their characters in 
no measured terms. He called them by their nicknames, 
if they had any, told them their faults, and lectured them 
for their conduct to the men, as he viewed it. Imagining 
himself on the deck of a vessel, a favorite way with him 
while in this state, he put the different parties through such 
punishment as he thought they deserved. He answered 
questions, sung songs, which he remembered, and did many 
other things to the great amusement of the company, who 
put him to the severest tests. After an hour or more he 
awoke entirely ignorant of all that had transpired. 

PRESENTATIONS. 

Previous to the 3d of March, Miss Viall, daughter of 
Col. William Viall, of Providence, presented to Drum- 
Major Dunbar, an elegant baton, and to Fife-Major Patt, a 
fine sash and sword belt. The presentation was made in 
camp at headquarters. 

" Company B, on the 3d of March, presented to Mr. Ornam L. 
Patt, Fife Major, a very fine sword, and Orderly-Sergt. Crocker 
made the following address: 

"' Major Patt : I have the honor, in behalf of Company B, to 
present you with this sword. May you wear it with honor to yonr- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. Ill 

self, to this company, and the regiment, and by the protecting care 
of Providence be permitted to return with it to your peaceful home. 
It is bright now, and occasional rubbing will keep it so. As you 
rub and brighten it. may you also keep bright the memories of 
those who presented it, and the kindly feelings that prompted 
tin- act.' 

"The recipient thanked the donors in a few appropriate words, 
in which he stated that he was taken wholly by ' surprise.' The 
sword bore the inscription, ' Presented to Ornam L. Patt, principal 
musician, by Company B, Eleventh Regiment, Rhode Island Vol- 
unteers, March 3, 1863.' " 

For the above account we are indebted to "A. D. N." 
Company I also had a presentation on this wise. Second- 
Sergt. Remington, on the 6th of March, was promoted to 
second-lieutenant, and assigned by Lieut. -Col. Pitman to 
the post made vacant by the promotion of Lieut. Burlingame. 
The receipt of this news was the signal to raise funds to 
procure for one so much in favor with the company, the 
equipments appropriate to his rank. Sergt. F. P. Brown 
soon collected about seventy-five dollars from officers and 
men, and a committee proceeded to Washington to make the 
purchases. The new Lieutenant was induced to postpone 
his visit to the city for the purpose of being mustered out of 
service, when the trap was sprung and the Lieutenant fairly 
caught. 

About eight o'clock, on the morning of March 10th, 
Company I, in charge of the Orderly, marched to the Cap- 
tain's quarters, while Lieut. R. was at breakfast, formed 
three sides of a square and called him out. Before he 
could recover from his astonishment, Corporal J. C. Thomp- 
son slipped out about the same time, stepped in front and 
addressed him at greater length than we have room for in 
these pages. In substance he said : 

"Lieut. Orville M. Remington: As the mouth-piece of this 
Company I ask you to accept this gift as an expression of their sat- 



112 HISTORY OF THE 

isfaction and pleasure at your promotion. They rejoice the more 
because this honor is conferred upon one who served as a private in 
that brave band of Rhode Island's sons, who so long withstood the 
foe in the first memorable battle of Bull Run. We hope and trust 
that this belt and sash will adorn the breast and girdle the loins of 
an ever brave and honorable officer, and that this sword will be 
wielded with ability and success — never dishonored. When you 
draw this blade and look upon its polished surface, see mirrored 
there the obedienee, respect and attachment of Company I. For 
this pleasant gathering let us render thanks to Him who has gra- 
ciously watched over and blessed to the present hour, and who 
alone can return us in due season to the land and homes that we 
love." 

Inscribed upon the scabbard was: "Presented to Lieut. 
Orville M. Remington, Eleventh Regiment, R. I. V., by 
Company I, March 9th, 1863." The cost of the sword, 
sash and bell was about sixty-four dollars. The remainder 
of the subscription was tendered in money. 

Lieut. Remington responded in substance : 

"Comrades of Company T: I thank you for this unexpected 
present. It will be my endeavor to serve you faithfully and to 
fulfil acceptably the duties of my position. I hope never to prove 
recreant in the service of my country or in devotion to my country's 
flag. Accept the warmest assurance of my best wishes tor your 
success and welfare." 

Three rousing cheers and a Narragansett for Lieut. R. 

concluded these ceremonies. 

OUR BRASS HAND. 

Our new brass band made their appearance on dress- 
parade March 4th. Their performance was creditable in a 
high degree. Under their leader, Mr. Robert Sieler,* they 

*A true soldier, talented, brave and devoted was Robert Seiler, a member of 
Company K. He was a native of Erfurt, Prussia, and bad served in the Prus- 
sian army before emigrating to America. He was a member of Company E, 
First Rhode Island. He was leader of the band in the Third Rhode Island, 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 113 

had made remarkable progress in their few weeks of prac- 
tice. Maj. Dunbar, who had charge of all the music, 
appeared with a new uniform, and the brilliant baton pre- 
sented by Miss Viall. Fife-Maj. Patt donned his new 
equipments. Within the thirty-five days previous to this 
occasion there were twenty- three when rain, hail or snow 
fell, while some of the storms were long and severe. 

GUARD DUTY AT CONVALESCENT (AMP. 

Guard duty at the above-named camp was an unique busi- 
ness, and merits a special notice in an account of the service 
of this regiment. A regular observer would write change 
upon every day of our duty there. These changes resulted 
from the removal of the troops from tents to barracks, the 
absorption of the Distribution Camp into the Convalescent 
Camp and the departure of thousands, either because dis- 
charged from service on account of disability, or because 
they were sent to their respective regiments. 

This continual change made consequent changes in the 
performance of our duty. To-day the line was here, 
to-morrow there. One day the posts at the barracks were at 
certain points, to-morrow at other places, and all the time of 

until the order came that regimental bands should be discontinued. He was 
then mustered out, and enlisted in the Eleventh. Mustered out at the expira- 
tion of term of service, he again enlisted in the Third Rhode Island Cavalry. 
He was sergeant from April 15, 18(54. He was taken prisoner, and during 
Sherman's march to the sea, he was confined within a stockade, where, the 
river rising, he was obliged to stand in the water for twenty-four hours, up to 
his waist. He was paroled April 22d, 180.5, and discharged after the close of 
the war, July 15, 18<*>.3. In the Eleventh, Seiler was detailed as musician. 
Soon after the Eleventh went into the field a brass band was organized and he 
was appointed leader. This position he held through the campaign. Four 
times Avas he regularly and honorably discharged. From the effects of his 
imprisonment, especially from standing in the water, as mentioned above, he 
was attacked with rheumatism, and finally with lung disease, from the effects 
of which he died about 1879. 






114 HISTORY OF THE 

our sojourn there, the rainy and snowy days were so fre- 
quent that the ground over which the guard had to pass. 
and on which they had to stand, approached the hatter state 
more nearly than any other. 

A detail of about halt' the effective men of six companies 
performed the duties of each' day, a fresh detail being sent 
out each morning. These were made up of three reliefs of 
four hours each, each relief from two of these companies. 
At ten o'clock in the morning the first relief arrived at the 
headquarters of the guard of Camp Convalescent : a portion 
were posted on a line nearly one mile in length, compassing 
the right side of the camp, and about an equal number on a 
line of the same length on the left. A dozen guards, more 
or less, were posted among the barracks. The muskets of 
the guard were loaded with ball, and the instructions were 
to let no one pass without a pass properly signed. 

The men preferred to stand four hours and be off eight, so 
as to get longer rest and lose less time in passing over this 
extended line. 

At night the duty often assumed a comico-serious aspect. 
which we believe resulted only in the most ludicrous acci- 
dents. Almost Egyptian darkness enshrouded the camp, 
the woods, hills and dells, unless the moon lent her borrowed 
light for our benefit. On one such night, when the guard 
were returning to the quarters, they performed some singular 
feats. Some wandered a long distance out of the way, tum- 
bled over stumps, fell into brooks and ditches, went in over 
their knees in mud, or plunged the butts of their guns into 
the mud in feeling their way. One man. after dancing over 
a plank, splashing the water all the way. put out his hands 
and embraced a horse's head. lie was greeted with a show 
of welcome, it may have been a horse laugh, but received 
no harm. Another undertook to pilot a small squad, and. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 115 

just as he was sure lie saw a landmark, pitched into a pair 
of mules. Those are mild samples. Many truthful and 
more ludicrous stories might be told which would take the 
palm from anything we have written, and an inspection of 
the persons of the men on the next morning would have 
endorsed the whole account. 

A STORM RETURN <>F THE WANDERERS PROMOTIONS. 

A most singular storm visited us Sunday, March 15th. 
It began to hail early in the afternoon and continued fiercclv 
for four or five hours. This Avas followed about half-past 
three in the afternoon, bv the most brilliant and dazzling 
lightning, accompanied by the heaviest and most magnificent 
thunder. This display lasted, with brief intervals, more 
than two hours. 

Companies G and K returned to us again on the 16th, 
and the Distributing Camp was then removed to the tents 
in Camp Convalescent, formerly occupied by the Pennsylva- 
nia troops. To celebrate the departure of Companies K 
and C from the Distribution Camp, some eight of the 
soldiers in that camp, about to report to their regiments, 
armed with axes, broke into the sutler's store (after sur- 
rounding and threatening a single guard of Company C), 
and quicker than it would be possible to tell it, cleaned his 
store out. In the confusion, the clerk inside escaped and 
gave the alarm. The officers and men of Company C soon 
appeared at the door, out of which the thieves, who then 
had warning of what was coming, were rushing, and cap- 
tured four of them at the point of the bayonet. Two more 
were afterwards arrested with the stolen goods in their pos- 
session. That game was not tried again. 

The return of these two companies was accompanied by. 



1 l(i HISTORY OF THE 

to them, a rather rough experience. Obliged to guard the 
Distribution Camp while removing, they came over in par- 
cels, had not sufficient time to pitch their tents, and arrange 
their quarters, and wore obliged to seek shelter from the 
damp and muddy ground in their old location among the 
other companies in the regiment. A generous hospitality 
was extended to them. They were immediately detailed to 
do guard duty with the other companies at Camp Convales- 
cent, and thus performed forty-eight hours' guard duty with- 
out the accustomed rest, and with no respite to erect their 
stockades, except the intervals between guard reliefs. They 
had boasted somewhat of their light duties and extra privi- 
leges, and this change, which was probably considered a 
••military necessity." was like a change from the tropics to 
Greenland without due preparation. 

There were further promotions in the latter part of March. 
First-Lieut. James was made captain of Company E, and 
Second-Lieut. Clark was made first lieutenant of the same 
company. Sergt. Ira Wilson, of Company C, was promoted 
to he second lieutenant oi' Company C. 

OIK THIRD COLONEL — RUMORS. 

Col. George E. Church, a captain in the Seventh Rhode 
Island, well recommended to us in advance, arrived in cam]) 
on the "20th instant, and assumed command by an order at 
dress-parade. 

Cam)) rumors were generally SO idle that they wen' not 
worth noticing, but a sample just here, may not he amiss. 
Towards the first of April, the question of our removal was 
constantly agitated. One day we were to go with Burnside 
to Newbern, the next to guard Long Bridge, and when it 
turned out that the gallant Burnside was to go west, it was 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 117 

reported, "We shall leave next week for Kentucky." 
Shadows of fancy was the better name tor these stories, and 
the rumors that our friends at home heard concerning us 
had about the same value. It was undoubtedly true at that 
time, and, as the event proved, that Gen. Ileintzleman, who 
was in command of the defences of Washington, and who, 
it was then thought, loved to fight the rebels as much as to 
eat his breakfast, had no idea of letting us go until some 
greater emergency than then existed, required the abandon- 
ment of one service to attend to another. 

From all we can gather, Company B had a greater share 
of "extras" than any other company. Paper, envelopes. 
stamps, a copy of the Washington Daily Chronicle for each 
mess, and a weekly paper, pictorial or otherwise, sand, black- 
ing, oil, polishing-powder, emery-paper, and in the latter part 
of March, "rations of green apples." Their "'company 
fund" was large, their friends with money many, and their 
visitors who remembered them handsomely, numerous. 

Adjt.-Gen. Mauran made a visit near the close of the 
month, and expressed himself highly pleased with the con- 
dition and appearance of the regiment. He received a 
serenade from our brass band. Also the Rev*. J. Gr. Adams, 
who came to visit his son in Company I. He expressed 
himself well pleased with the regiment, united heartily in 
our religious services, and made a very favorable impression 
upon all with whom he came in contact. Lieut. Edwards,* 

*" First-Lieut. .1. T. Edwards was the accomplished and popular principal of 
the Seminary at East Greenwich. He is now the Rev. Dr. Edwards, President 
of the Chamberlain Female College, at Randolph, Cattaraugus county. New 
York. While Companies C and K were at the Camp Distribution, Lieut. 
Edwards was on duty as Adjutant at the Parole Camp, near Alexandria, under 
command of Col. DeKorpony. While at this place, Lieut. Edwards was 
attacked with heart disease in an acute and aggravated form. In accordance 
with positive directions from the surgeon in charge of the camp, he resigned. 
His resignation being accepted, lie was discharged March 2G, 1SI*>:5, and Second- 
Lieut. Thurber was promoted to his place." 



1 L8 HISTOKY OF THE 

of Company K, who held a position in Cam]) Parole, 
resigned on account of ill-health, and Lieut. Burlingame 
also, for satisfactory reasons. Messrs. Henry L. FairbrOther, 
of Pawtucket, and Nathan Fuller, Jr., of Central Falls, 
visited the regiment on the 26th instant. Our Chaplain look 
a furlough, and the Adjutant performed the duties of post- 
master. Up to April 1st the religious interest at the Conva- 
lescent Camp was undiminished. Meetings were held twice 
a day, and many were spiritually benefited. 

DEATH — A STORM — FIRST APPEARANCE OF COL. CHURCH — 
six MOM lis' SERVICE. 

The angel of death entered our ranks for the third time 
on the 1st of April, taking Mr. Gardiner Northup, a young 

man of Company II, after an illness of three weeks. His 
health had been good up to the first day of his sickness. 
The officers and men cf his company bore testimony to his 
excellent character from his first day's service until his 
decease. His body was borne to his grave by his comrades 
of Company II, under the command of ('apt. Joel Metcalf. 
The customary military honors were paid to his remains. 
Rev. Philo Hawkes, of Company I. officiated most accept- 
ably at the burial. 

Previous to Saturday, the 4th of April, we had a few 
delightful golden days, but between live and six o'clock, of 
that day, the fiercest storm of wind and snow that Ave had 
experienced began. After two or three hours the wind 
abated, but the snow continued till noon the next day. and 
was one of our deepest snows. Rare as this should have 
been at that season, we hail learned to expect rare things 
and make the best of them. 

Col. Church took command at battalion drill for the first 
time. Monday, the 30th of March. A severe cold, the first 



ELEVENTH REGIMKKT. 119 

that had kept him from duty since he entered the service, 
detained him until that time. Upon his appearance the 
companies in line gave him three cheers. 

We had seen full six months' service Monday, April 6th. 
During the time, ending April 1st, we had one hundred and 
thirty-four men in the hospital : sixty-eight had returned to 
duty ; six had died ; three of the latter after their discharge 
from the general hospital ; thirty-one had been discharged 
for disability, and live only had been in the general hospital. 
Our lot was similar to that of the Twenty-second Connecti- 
cut and the Fortieth Massachusetts, both of which, up to 
the 1st of April, were far less healthy than the Eleventh, 
while we had seen two months of the most wearing service. 
We have before shown that earnest efforts were made to 
have the regiment sent into active service at the front, but 
up to that date, for wise reasons, doubtless, the command- 
ing general chose to keep ns at guard duty. 

FAIRFAX SEMINARY HOSPITAL. 

Early in April, Capt. Kendrick, of Company 1, and the 
writer visited this hospital, some two miles to the south and 
crowning the hills in front of ns. It was a pleasing and 
prominent object in our surroundings, and some description 
of it will not he deemed out of place here. It had been a 
nourishing Episcopal Theological Seminary, of which Bishop 
Meade was president, and Rev. Drs. Sparrow, May and 
Packard, professors. Some Providence ministers of that 
date received their training there. The buildings were con- 
verted by the government into a general hospital, and to 
that fact was due their careful preservation from the terrible 
ravages of war so apparent in the whole vicinity, and seen 
here in the absence of the fences that protected the grounds. 

We sought out Rev. Mr. Jerome, Chaplain for the hos- 



1 20 HISTORY OF THE 

pital, through whose courtesy we had a view of the whole 
establishment. There were three principal buildings. The 
centre, known as Aspinwall Hall, a hue piece of architec- 
ture, at a distance might be taken tor an elegant modern 
church. The library building, much smaller, was on the 
right of this, and the chapel on the left. The lower floor of 
Aspinwall Hall was used for the offices of surgeons and 
attendants, and the upper floors, which were students' 
rooms, were used for hospital purposes. We passed up the 
staircases through all the halls and ascended to the cupola 
or steeple, from which we obtained a splendid view of the 
country for miles around. Every arrangement was made 
for the comfort of the patients, and the floors and stairways 
almost shone with cleanliness. Besides a delightful prospect, 
there was an abundance of sunlight and fresh air. 

The library building was happily adapted for its new pur- 
pose. On the shelves in the alcoves were arranged bottles 
of drugs — remedies for the diseased body, where once had 
been food and medicine for the mind and soul. The general 
appearance of the interior reminded one of a fine looking 
apothecary's shop on Westminster street, Providence. 

The chapel was reserved for services on the Sabbath, and 
prayer and conference meetings during the week. Similar 
services were held in the barracks for those who were obliged 
to remain or were unable to walk far. A good library was 
provided for the use of patients and convalescents. A short 
distance to the northwest Avas the high school building, also 
a part of the hospital. Near the Seminary there was a row 
of seven or eight barracks, which, A\*ith the buildings, accom- 
modated nine hundred men. In the previous summer, hos- 
pital tents were erected, and then eighteen hundred patients 
Avere cared for. 

On our way back to camp, by a very pleasant route. Ave 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 121 

passed a large number of magnolia trees just putting forth 
their buds. One monster tree, that had been ruthlessly felled, 
measured nearly tour feet in diameter. 

DISCIPLINE — PAY — MARCHING ORDERS. 

The reins of discipline in our camp were drawn much 
tighter at that time. A portion of the best men in Company 
B, while on camp guard, though not on their posts at the 
time, refused to do the extra duty of plastering with mud 
the stockade of the guard-house, and at dress-parade a sen- 
tence was read depriving them of half a month's pay. In 
a few days, however, the sentence, though in accord with 
the Articles of War. was revoked by the Colonel, in consid- 
eration of the usual good behavior of the men. 

Wednesday and Thursday, the 8th and 9th of April, 
brought the Paymaster with the long- wished for four 
months' pay. This put the boys in good spirits ; some of 
them in too good spirits. 

The following amounts were sent home by the officers and 
men of the various companies, most of it through the Allot- 
ment Commissioner : 

Company B, $4,7G3 ; .1, $4,075 ; A, $3,100 ; D, $2,100 ; 
E, $3,000 ; II, $2,700 ; G, $3,900 ; K, $3,145 ; C, $3,000 ; 
total, $33,783. The Allotment Commissioner took with 
him $30,905.83. 

Sunday morning, the 12th instant, we received orders to 
hold ourselves in readiness to march the next morning ; but 
we remained in our old location, pursuing the even tenor of 
our way, waiting for the order to strike tents and pack 
knapsacks, when, with hearty cheers and a trust in Divine 
Providence, we would march wherever Uncle Sam told us. 
11 



122 HISTORY OF THE 

FAREWELL TO CAMP CONVALESCENT — WELCOME THE 
POTOMAC AND CHESAPEAKE CAY. 

The monotony of guard duty was broken on the morning 
of April 15th, and the last third of our term of service 
opened new scenes and duties to the boys of the Eleventh. 
At halt-past two o'clock in the, to us memorable, morning 
we were aroused from slumber and ordered to pack knap- 
sacks and be ready to march at daylight. Then began the 
busy scene, the noise and confusion, and cheering of a regi- 
ment of excited men, about to bid good-bye to comfortable 
quarters, take their hotels upon their backs, and march 
whithersoever ordered. All sorts of conveniences that could 
neither be sent home nor carried with us, must be parted 
with ; all household goods must be compressed into the com- 
pass of a knapsack, and woe to the man who loaded too 
heavily. 

Bonfires from the straw contained in our bed-sacks soon 
lit the foot of our various streets, the work of preparation 
went rapidly on, and by sunrise it was essentially completed. 
The last cup of coffee was drunk, the last breakfast taken, 
the companies formed and marched out into line ; the only 
drawback was the increasing easterly storm. The whole 
regiment in line extended beyond our parade-ground, and 
seemed as large as many a brigade. The men were in high 
spirits. 

Our quarters were left unmoved and uninjured, and the 
contrabands in the vicinity, and the troops that relieved us, 
reaped a harvest of rations, clothing boxes, soap, pans, 
jars, and many other thing-. 

Just before seven o'clock (stall' officers all on foot) we 
marched to the railroad that passes Camp Convalescent, and 
took standing tickets in box ears for Alexandria, or as ' ; A. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 123 

D. N." puts it, "We were huddled together like so many 
sheep." The boys in the Convalescent and Stragglers' 
Camp turned out and gave us many an uncomplimentary 
greeting, and, as we marched past them, we saw the Pennsyl- 
vania Reserves coming over the hill to occupy our camp and 
perform our duty. Nothing could have pleased the conva- 
lescents more. U J. I>. (J." thus speak s of the "Reserves": 
" It was an amusing scene, as the men, poorly clad, and 
bearing the marks of hard service, ran from tent to tent to 
gather up and appropriate to their own use whatever was to 
be found. One seized a table, another an axe, another a 
broom, another a bed, and all seemed highly delighted to 
find such good quarters provided for them." 

Having climbed into the cars — which climbing in cannot 
be described — in a few minutes we reached Alexandria. A 
short march brought us to the transports gathered at the 
wharves, and, with very little detention, we embarked on 
board the steamer Hero. It was then eight o'clock. We 
did not leave the wharf until nearly one o'clock, and then 
steamed slowly down the Potomac. We were surprised to 
greet our old neighbors, the Fortieth Massachusetts, the 
Twenty-second Connecticut, and the One Hundred and Forty- 
first New York. What or how many others there were, we 
did not know. We have been strongly impressed, since then, 
that when these troops moved to the defence of Suffolk, very 
few troops remained in the defences of Washington. Day 
and evening, as we steamed slowly on, a northeast rain beat 
steadily and half-fiercely upon everything exposed to its 
attack; entering every crack and crevice and in every part 
of that almost worn-out old craft (that years previously 
plied between Providence and New York, and New York 
and Hartford), dropping through the promenade deck, and 
in some places pouring upon the clothing and equipments of 



124 HISTORY OF THE 

more than nine hundred men. Had the weather permitted, 
every available space would have been crowded to catch a 
glimpse of the sights along the shore, but, driven under 
cover, the floors all nuul and water, clothes damp, air foul, 
everything about us was as nearly disagreeable as could be : 
yet the men's faces were not long; they were tar more 
cheerful than persons unaccustomed to observe soldier-life 
could have believed. All this did not prevent us from look- 
ing at such places of interest as Mount Vernon, Acquia 
Creek. Fort Washington, one of the finest forts on the river 
and presenting a splendid appearance from the water, and 
Other points. After a run of about seventy miles, we 
anchored tor the night off Point Matthias. How we slept 
during the night it would take too much space to describe. 
The greater part, in some other posture than lying down : 
our accommodations were about the same as tor so many 
cattle. Some were more fortunate than others. 

The morning of April 16th dawned without a storm, and 
soon after sunrise a streak of light gleamed in the western 
sky. The dav was pleasant, witli little sunshine, and the 
air much warmer. Our brass band turned out early and 
gave us some tine music tor breakfast (hard-tack alone had 
been our tare since we started), and again, at a later hour, 
on the hurricane deck. All improved the opportunity to view 
noteworthy localities, and the day passed much more pleas- 
antly than the day before. Great interest was taken in the 
relative movements of the slow boats that composed our 
fleet. We were reminded of the well-known ditty : 

" Two blind men went to sec 
Two cripples run a race." 

We passed the Rappahannock and York rivers, and as we 
approached Fortress Monroe, every one turned out to view 



E US VE N T 1 1 R E GIM E N T. \'2 5 

it. It need not be described here. The evening was fine, 
and the whole scene around the fortress pleasing and novel. 
Our fleet of* transports reported immediately on their arrival. 
Union men-of-war were at anchor in the Roads, together 
with an English war steamer and a French steam frigate of 
forty-four guns. The Rip Raps, where criminal soldiers 
were sent to labor, attracted our attention. 

OFF FOB NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. 

The mail was sent ashore at once, and the delay at the 
fortress was brief. While we were in the vicinity our band 
discoursed some excellent music, which drew forth from the 
splendid band of the French steamer, several fine pieces. 
We inferred from the movements of the other transports 
that we were to proceed directly to Norfolk, and, after wait- 
ing a little for the return of the boat from shore, we steamed 
off in that direction, giving the French frigate three cheers 
in parting. 

FLAG OF TIIF CUMBERLAND. 

After passing Fortress Monroe on the way to Norfolk, a 
little distance from our steamer, oft* at the right, was plainly 
seen, just appearing above the waves, what remained of the 
flag of the Cumberland, still floating from the top of her 
mast. What a flood of thoughts and suggestions came 
welling up in the mind on witnessing this little flag still flut- 
tering in the breeze, so long after the powerful Merrimac had 
sent to the bottom the once famous United States war ship. 
'•Cumberland," and in her turn, disabled by the little Mon- 
itor, she. too. had been abandoned and sunk at Norfolk. 

Seven o'clock brought us alongside the wharves at Nor- 
folk, where our arrival had been anticipated by the govern- 



126 history of the 

ment officials, and a long train of cars was ready to take us 
and other regiments through to Suffolk. About nine o'clock, 
and again in the middle of the night, a portion of our regi- 
ment departed for that place. Companies 1> and I, and a 
part of Company II remained to steal the sweetest sleep 
possible from the brick sidewalks and wooden wharves of 
East Wide Water street. Norfolk. Camp-fires were built 
at the street-crossings and the men and officers made them- 
selves peculiarly at home. All were aroused at live o'clock 
in the morning, and many availed themselves of the privi- 
lege of looking about to see the kind of a place we were in. 
We were suprised to find so well-built a city : but we received 
no sympathy except from those people who did not wear 
white faces. The contrabands were pleased and polite. 

At six o'clock on the morning of the 17th. the companies 
that remained in Norfolk took the cars for Suffolk, and we 
felt well paid for the delay. The majority of us were upon 
ordinary flats, sixty on a car; but we had an unobstructed 
view of the country over which we passed, and enjoyed, in 
the bright sunshine and cool of the morning, a most beauti- 
ful ride. Nature was wide awake. Large and well culti- 
vated vegetable gardens on either side, with apple and peach 
trees in full bloom, greeted us in the first part of our journey, 
and magnificent forests of pine and other tall woods in the 
latter part. We also passed the northern end of the great 
Dismal Swamp. Eight o'clock saw us in line in the princi- 
pal street of Suffolk, after passing a large number of camps 
in the immediate vicinity. Soon the whole column. Col. 
Church at the head, was on the move. We marched 
through the Ions street to soul-stirring music, the lon<2' line 
and fine band creating no little sensation. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 127 



PART III. 

Suffolk and the Blackwater. 

At nine o'clock our knapsacks were unslung, and we were 
ready to encamp on a parcel of ground hardly large enough 
for the purpose, isolated from the rest of our forces, and 
separate from the other regiments of Gen. Terry's brigade, 
into which we had been ordered. On each side of us were a 
deep gully and a brook, in true Virginia style. Just west 
and northwest of us was the Nansemond river, and in the 
semi-circle on the same side were our heavy and light bat- 
teries and gun-boats. Across the river, and in rifle range, 
were the rebels. Neither side was idle. 

AT THE FRONT. 

•• Gov. Sprague's pet regiment" was at the front at last. 
If we were not permitted after this to enter into any general 
engagement with the enemy, it was because Divine Provi- 
dence had us in keeping. The bullets of the enemy made 
music through the day, while ringing responses were made 
by our side. The constant heavy firing from Union gun- 
boats and batteries, told every hour that work was going on. 
A short walk, within a radius of a mile and a half from 
camp, and the rebels were in plain sight. A large force of 
Union troops were already upon the ground, and other regi- 
ments were arriving daily. 

We occupied our shelter tents, crawled in and out of them, 
and lived in the open air as much as possible. The violet, 
the anemone, and the strawberry bloomed around us. A 



12S HISTORY OF THE 

peach orchard was in full flower not far off. All was Life. 
The men were in the finesl spirits and seemed to rejoice in 
the change. Our line officers flourished in "A" tents. 
Rations of 12 < >< >< 1 quality were served out, and the boys, after 
living on hard-tack only, for two days, did justice to them. 

It was a pleasure to see almost a whole regiment taking their 
meals out of doors, and a splendid sight before tattoo to view 
such an encampment lit up by camp-fires and candle-light. 

The inevitable dress-parade came off on the afternoon of 
the dav of our arrival at the new camp. Gen. Terry was 
present, and was well pleased with our appearance. We 
were assigned to a post of honor and importance. From 
Tuesday until Friday night the men had but little rest. The 
few slightly indisposed when we started were better on Sat- 
urdav morning, and very few were excused by the surgeon. 
The regiment was in fine condition for service. 

Thousands of men, comprising many regiments, had broken 
up their winter encampments, and in forty-eight hours been 
transported two hundred and fifty miles. If this was not 
the greatest despatch, it was too much for the rebels who 
meant to capture Suffolk. 

On Monday, previous to leaving (amp Metealf (13th), 
our Drum-Maj. Dunbar received a present of a handsome 
sword, appropriate to his rank, from the officers and men of 
Company A. Capt. Aver, in a terse and forcible speech, 
presented it, and the Major responded very happily. At 
the instance of ('apt. Aver, three rousing cheers were given 
for "our good-looking drum-major," and the company 
marched to dress-parade.* 

♦ Previous to April 13th, Second- Lieut. Daniel Bush, Company B, was pro- 
moted to first lieutenant and assigned t<> Company H. Sergt. William T. 
Luther, Company A, was promoted to first lieutenant and assigned to Com- 
pany B. 'I'lif Sergeant-Major of the regiment was promoted to second lieuten- 
ant and assigned to Company K. Sergt. Charles U. Scott became acting 
sergeant major. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 12JI 

WHAT THE REBELS TRIED TO DO CAPTURE OF A REBEL 

BATTERY. 

At the time of our move to Suffolk, sensational corres- 
pondents of some of the New York and Philadelphia papers 
gave alarming accounts of the situation. The correspond- 
ence of the New York Tribune was not of that character. 
We had heard exaggerated accounts of a battle that had 
lasted four or five days, and that probably we should be 
engaged as soon as we readied there; but it turned out that 
on Saturday, the 11th instant, previous to our arrival, the 
enemy, in some force, appeared in front of our pickets, 
drove them in or captured them, advanced to our outermost 
signal station, beyond the Nansemond and in view of the 
South Quay battery, expecting that the officer in charge 
would skedaddle in fright, without informing our side; but 
he failed to meet their expectations, and first telegraphed to 
the next station, and in five minutes after the Union troops 
in and around Suffolk had manned the forts, and to the oreat 
discomfiture of the rebels on attacking our defences they 
obtained more than they bargained for. They were also 
bravely foiled in another instance, in their attempt to destroy 
our gun-boats, one of which, unfortunately, grounded. From 
that day forward the Union forces repelled nil their efforts to 
cross the river, and thwarted all their attempts to plant bat- 
teries or dig rifle-pits to annoy us. Thus were the efforts of 
Longstreet and forty thousand men, to capture the ammuni- 
tion and stores at Suffolk, and to gain a permanent foot-hold 
in that locality, if that was his ultimate object, utterly foiled. 
A well-managed affair came off Sunday evening, April 
19th, in which one of our gun-boats engaged a battery in 
range, while detatchments of several regiments of our 
infantry crossed the river, made a circuit higher up and 



130 HISTORY OF THE 

captured the battery and one hundred and fifty men, includ- 
ing a major and nine other commissioned officers. Our loss 
was slight. The rebels called it a Yankee trick. The 
prisoners were in jail near by our cam}), and we saw them, 
as great a variety of jail-birds as were ever seen. Hats of 
all shapes, vests and pants of all colors, unclean and dirty, 
ragged and patched, and shoes that laughed and cried by 
turns. They were very hungry, it' the style in which they r 
devoured the food given them, the same as the Union soldiers 
received, was evidence. 

Maj.-Gen. Peck was in the command, at Suffolk, of a 
large and well appointed army. There were nine or ten 
miles of fortifications extending all around us. Day and 
night the shells of our big guns howled in our ears, winging 
their way to the concealed positions of the enemy, revealed 
to our gun-boats and batteries by a young Rhode Islander, 
chief of the signal station near the cam]). Now and then 
our sharp-shooters ventured some, and careless soldiers fell a 
prey to the Indicts of the enemy's rifles, and they to ours. 
It was dangerous sport for one of the Union boys to mount 
the parapets on one of our batteries, dance about to attract 
the enemy's tire, while our concealed marksmen shot in the 
direction of the smoke that rose, he dropping at the instant 
to escape the bullet that tlew at him. ■ This game was 
engaged in with as great zest as men engage in hunting 
partridges or any other sport. Such was the programme 
from day to day. and the men moved about or slept in their 
quarters with as much unconcern as if the enemy were not 
thought of. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 131 

THE ROUTINE <>K THE ELEVENTH. 

The duty of the Eleventh at that time was for a part of 
the companies to proceed, when darkness came on, to some 
of the fortifications near us, to support a battery, sleeping 
on our arms in the open air until daylight, ready for any 
emergency. Another company would be posted to man the 
rifle-pits. Four or five companies on the same nighl marched 
off" in another direction, to work on an entrenchment, which 
could not be done in daylight; while pickets across the 
river, who abandoned their stations at day-dawn, were ready 
to warn us of danger. Beside this a strict camp guard was 
kept. In the absence of guard tents the whole guard slept 
in the open air during the night, except in case of a storm. 

The first picket duty of the Eleventh after our arrival 
at Suffolk, was by a company of men under the command 
of Lieut. William Stone. They advanced towards the 
picket line under rebel fire, and, on their return next morn- 
ing, they were fired at several times. They established the 
picket line subsequently occupied by our forces while at 
Suffolk. 

While in camp at Suffolk we enjoyed many pleasant- 
visits from men of other regiments, boys of the Fourth 
Rhode Island being of the number. Gens. Halleck and 
Dix visited Suffolk April 21st, to examine the situation, and 
a salute was fired in their honor by one of the batteries near 
our camp. 

In the afternoon of the same day, Lieut. -Col. Buffum, of 
the Fourth Rhode Island, and other officers, were present at 
dress-parade. 

For a considerable time the regiment was out two-thirds 
of the nights, and in quarters for the remainder. The boys 
began to improve their quarters with materials gathered 



132 HISTORY OF THE 

from the houses in the vicinity that had been leveled to 
allow a range for our nuns. In fact, they stockaded their 
shelter tents, tour or more clubbing together, and made 
themselves comfortable habitations. A cold, drizzling east- 
erly storm gave US a disagreeable experience after we had 
been in camp three days. 

TIIK SITUATION THE ELEVENTH READY. 

Near the close of April, if one had stopped his ears and 
wandered along or near the banks of the Nansemond and 
listened to the hum of insects or the singing of birds, and 
then walked into the camp of the Eleventh and observed 
how the men in cam}) busied themselves, he would hardly 
have dreamed of danger or the foe. But had he made a 
short tour to the north of our camp, seen the long line of 
rifle-pits thrown up by the Eleventh on the south and west 
of their camp, stayed out o' nights from dusk in the evening 
until dawn in the morning ; could he have seen the heavy 
guns that one alter another were put in position in the many 
forts around us, and watched the Eleventh at work in the 
trenches, and observed the big pile of dirt a hundred or two 
men could throw up in a few hours, remembering that night 
after night for weeks this was a part of their business, and 
also of' many other regiments, he would begin to understand 
without hearkening to the booming of cannon or the pop, 
pop, popping of rifles, that extensive and thorough prepara- 
tions were making to give Longstreet or Hill, and as many 
men as they were ready to lead, a terrible reception. The 
skirmishers were out every day. The sharp-shooters were 
constantly at work. On a certain road to the South Quay 
batteries, bullets like hail were constantly Hying, and shelling 
was kept up on our side day and night. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 133 

"the 'crow's NEST' AT SOUTH QUAY BATTERY." 

"Come, Lieutenant, I am going over to South quay 
Battery, this afternoon ; will you go with me? I am told 
the rebel sharpshooters, from their rifle-pits across the river, 
will pick off' any man who shows himself. If you want to 
be shot at, now is your chance." 

•* I will go with you in a few minutes. I intended to 
have gone yesterday, hut the picket duty prevented." 

'Well, the Colonel has sent for me, and 1 will meet you 
at his quarters in half an hour." 
"All right." 

Let us follow the Captain and Lieutenant in their trip 
to the battery. The South Quay Battery was a fortification 
near the bridge over the Xansemond river, on the road lead- 
ing from Suffolk to South Quay. It was designed to repel 
an infantry assault upon the town from that quarter. But 
when Long-street had opened his light Latteries upon it, on 
his first approach to Suffolk, he weakened it in half an hour. 
Had he not been driven back by our artillery, its embank- 
ments would soon have been tumbled down. 

It had, however, been speedily strengthened by filling up 
its ditch and repairing the breaches made. This work had 
been done, largely by the Eleventh, only under cover of 
the darkness. Two reliefs were sent to this fort night after 
night ; one relief working from eight till twelve, while the 
other relief slept upon the ground near their stacked arms 
in the rear of the battery ; and changing places at twelve, 
the second relief shovelled till four, when both would with- 
draw beyond the reach of rebel guns before daylight. 

For many days the rebel sharp-shooters had been concealed 
in their rifle-pits on the hillside opposite, where, with their 
telescopic rifles, they were ready at any hour of the day to 



12 



134 HISTORY OF THE 

pick off any unwary Union soldier who should daringly or 
unwittingly show his head. 

The Captain and the Lieutenant inspect the fort, having 
approached and entered it from the rear. They examine 
its "parrots," its " terreplains," its "scarp" and "counter- 
scarp," its '"bastions," its "rampart," and its "parapet," 
its "gabions," and its "fascines." Finally, retiring to the 
rear of the works, they determine to climb to the " crow's 
nest." This is made of plank and joists placed about 
twenty or twenty-live feet above the ground in a large oak 
tree. The "nest" is in the form of a triangle, measuring 
about ten or twelve feet on a side. 

" Lieutenant, will you go up into the 'crow's nest' with 
me and examine the ' rebs ' in their rifle-pits?" 

"Yes, cOme on ; right this way." 

Up they go, hand over hand, along the tall ladder fast- 
ened by the side of the tree, and protected from view by a 
board set up in front of the ladder. Soon they stand upon 
the platform of the "nest," with the plank extending per- 
pendicularly in front of them to a height above their heads, 
except an opening of a few inches along the line of the eyes 
through which to view the whole front. 

"Pirn," "pim," sing the minie bullets, as they fly past 
them, right and left. 

"They have discovered us," says the Captain. "That 
they have, and right early, too," quoth the Lieutenant ; and 
soon they are watching the line of rifle-pits, and dodging 
below the sight line, as soon as they discover a puff of 
smoke issuing from any point along the line. 

Thus they spend a half hour, when, the attention of the 
whole line being concentrated upon them, the time of their 
dodging, the frequent puffs, has so increased that they can 
no longer examine with any ease or success the enemy's 
location, and the Captain proposes to withdraw. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 135 

"Too hot, altogether, Lieutenant. Pursuit of knowledge 

under difficulties. I say, let us get out of this." 

"Agreed, I am ready," replied his companion. 

They both prepared to descend the ladder. About half 
way down, a limb branches out from the massive trunk, 
and breaks the continuity of the board placed on the front 
edge of the ladder. This leaves one exposed for an instant, 
in the upward or downward passage. The Captain has just 
passed this exposed point, and there is a space of abou£ two 
feet between his head and the feet of the Lieutenant, who is 
following him down the ladder, when, "Pirn," "pirn," 
sing the minie balls as they fly through this little opening. 
A moment more and both officers are safely on the ground, 
and concealed behind the fort, ready to retrace their steps to 
the camp of the Eleventh Rhode Island, well satisfied with 
their tour of inspection. 

Keconnoissances were daily made, to ascertain, it was 
said, the strength and position of the enemy, xcry nicely 
hid from view by a belt of woods around us, though revealed 
now and then by a line of rifle-pits which he slyly threw up, 
or perhaps by a battery which was suddenly revealed to us. 
For, despite our constant shelling, he managed to cut down 
the woods that concealed it. 

We tried our shelter tents in a cold rain storm of two or 
three days' duration, and fared better than we feared ; for 
we made the rubber blankets of some of the mess do the 
duty of the badger skins that covered the tabernacle of the 
Israelites in the Wilderness. 

The first mail after leaving Camp Metcalf was delivered 
to us Thursday, the 23d. It arrived the night before. The 
boys had become impatient because of the delay, and were 
almost crazy with gladness to get it. It was very large, of 
course, and those who did not get one or more letters or 
papers were rare exceptions. 



130 HISTORY OF THE 

Friday, the 24tli instant, the Eleventh prepared for a 
tight. The order came at noon. Every available man. 
cooks included, was called into line. Thirty extra rounds 
of cartridges were given to each one to carry in his pockets. 
The long line of battle was formed, the boys were in high 
spirits and hot for the fray. The band played the "Star 
Spangled Banner," — but, no, we were only waiting. We 
stacked arms as a regiment on the parade-ground, kept on 
our equipments and waited till darkness closed around us. 

After supper, when the excitement bad subsided, quite a 
different scene presented itself. On the rising ground 
between the streets of Companies B and I, the voice of 
sacred song began to ascend. The circle extended and the 
numbers increased until a large number of the men of the 
regiment were participating in a most interesting conference 
and prayer meeting led by the Chaplain. \t was a striking 
and impressive sight, that will not soon be forgotten. A 
host of armed men, ready for the conflict, worshipping God 
and seeking Heaven's blessing on themselves and theirs. 

"They would leave unstained whit thera they found. 
Freedom to worship God." 

The cause of the preparation for conflict was a reconnois- 
sance made on the same day on the Edenton road, in which 

the rebels showed tight, retreated and got the worst of it, as 
we supposed, though we lost six men and several wounded. 

DEATH — INSPECTION — STATISTICS. 

Death was not of so frequent an occurrence in the 
Eleventh regiment as to produce a sense of indifference in 
the men. We note here the death of Rennsalaer Morton, of 
Company F, on the 23d instant, and his burial on the 26th 



E 1 4 E V E NTH REG1 M E NT . 137 

with impressive services. The Chaplain delivered an appro- 
priate discourse from the words : " Man goeth to his long 
home." The remains were escorted to the depot by Com- 
pany F, Capt. Taft, and the usual military honors paid to the 
deceased. His illness was brief, and the first after his enlist- 
ment. His brother, a member of Company B, obtained a 
furlough and took the remains to the distressed family. The 
body was embalmed and conveyed by express to Pawtucket, 
at the expense (for the greater part) of the officers and men 
of Company F. 

William C. Atwood, of Company C, died just previously 
in the hospital in Washington. A company inspection was 
held at half-past twelve o'clock on the Sabbath, the day of 
the funeral, and general inspection at half-past two. We 
were informed that Gen. Terry would be present, but he 
did not appear. In addition to this there was much grading 
of streets and digging of drains. For various reasons these 
orders did not sit well upon the men. They remembered a 
proclamation by our Father Abraham which was read some 
months previously on Miner's Hill. It ordered that all 
unnecessary work should be suspended on the Sabbath, and 
it pleased the Eleventh very much. They felt that if 
soldiers were oxen or horses they would have a fair claim to 
as near absolute rest as possible on Sunday. 

The regiment comprised a large proportion of Yankees 
born, and a large amount of Yankee ingenuity had already 
been exhibited by them, and they " reckoned " that they 
could contrive some plan by which seven-eighths of the 
Sunday work then required in the army, which, by cutting 
up the day, tended to demoralize men, could be dispensed 
with. 

An examination of the records of the regiment made 
early in May, showed the following professions and trades 
represented in the Eleventh : 



138 HISTORY OF THE 

Artists, Ifi ; professions, 1G ; painters, 20; teachers and 
students, 57; manufacturers, 126 : traders, 23; clerks, 83 ; 
laborers, 7 ( «) ; mechanics, 358 ; miscellaneous, 220. Native 
born, 778 ; foreign born 224. Married, 483 ; unmarried, 
519. 

RAIN — WATER COUCH — DIGNITARIES. 

The boys of the Eleventh will not pretend to an endurance 

of hardships equal to those endured by the bombastic con- 
valescents, who seized every opportunity to give the most 
vivid descriptions of their exposure to the elements, but. 
while our regiment were fortunate in escaping the ill effects 
of many tremendous southern rain storms, they had a 
thorough experience in sleeping out doors on the night of 
the 29th of April, while the rain poured down a drenching 
flood, to a thunder and lightning accompaniment, from even- 
ing until morning. It were useless to describe the appear- 
ance of the men or the state of their minds after the copious 
hydropathic administration, which the writer shared with the 
rest, but if the private letters of the men to their friends at 
home, written after this half-horse, half-alligator style of 
sleeping, could be seen, they would reveal comico-serious 
pictures equal to anything of Thomas Nast's. In military 
phrase, it was called supporting batteries or manning rifle- 
pits. Officers then were no better off than privates, unless 
they had more forethought or a better quality of brains, for 
the abundant rain made the soft grass or muddy ground a 
watery bed instead of a dry feathery one. Contrivance was 
worth more than authority. A bed of boughs and a wise 
disposition of rubber blankets enabled some of us to escape 
the more serious effects of the storm. 

Maj.-Gen. l)i\. the commander of that department, in 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 139 

company with Secretary Seward, visited the headquarters of 
Maj.-Gen. Peck, near our camp, April 29th. A cavalry 
escort with the brass band of the Pennsylvania mounted 
riflemen accompanied them. A good many of the privates 
were fortunate enough to get a sight of these two men, Dix 
and Seward, both of whom have since passed from their 
earthly stage of action, leaving behind them a record which 
their country delights to remember. This was the only 
opportunity some of us ever had of seeing Mr. Seward. We 
remember that the diminutive size of so great a man disap- 
pointed many. 

MOKE LIGHT WANTED CONTRABANDS RECONNOISSANCE OF 

THE NINETY-NINTH NEW YORK. 

Summer weather prevailed early in May, and the moon in 
all her glory gave us all the light we could get. Government 
furnished us with candles, and for the first time we were 
abundantly supplied. Privates, however, were not allowed 
to burn candles, for fear that the enemy might plant a bat- 
tery near, get the range of the camp by candle-light and 
shell the privates' tents. Nature did all she could for us, 
for on one of our stormy nights we had a wonderful display 
of lightning. It quite eclipsed the fireworks usually shown 
in Providence on the 4th of July. 

We saw more of the contrabands in Suffolk than we had 
seen before. The women came into our camp with pies and 
biscuit, gingerbread, hoe-cake, and fish fried in ham gravy, 
for sale, and the man who did not see them when they first 
hove in sight, stood a slim chance for tickling his palate 
with such delicacies. These female pie venders were young, 
often funnily dressed, black enough to make darkness visible, 
with smiling and grinning faces, round and plump as an 
orange, with 



140 HISTORY OF THE 

" Eyes so bright they shine at night, 
"When the moon am gone away." 

We were mustered in for pay, Thursday, the last day of 
April, by Col. Gibbs, of the One Hundred and Thirtieth 
New York, a regiment of our brigade. This exercise had 
a new and pleasant feature, in that we were not compelled 
to appear in line in heavy marching order, but the whole 
was finished up in the briefest possible period ; just long 
enough to march to our Colonel's quarters and answer to 
our names. So there were not always as many yards of 
red tape at one time as another. 

A DISASTROUS RECONNOISSANCE. 

One of the sad events which made a deep impression on 
the men of the Eleventh at the time, was a reconnoissance 
made by the Ninety-ninth New York, May 1st, by order of 
Maj.-Gen. Peck, but under the immediate command of the 
Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. 

They crossed the Nansemond on a narrow bridge in front 
of the South Quay Batteries, which were a mile or more 
south or southwest from our camp. Our force was about 
three hundred strong. The rebel rifle-pits were in long rifle 
range of our batteries. The two centre companies of the 
Ninety-ninth, colors in the centre, marched in a body to 
charge on the concealed foe. The companies on the wings 
were deployed as skirmishers. The Union boys charged to 
within twenty yards of the most approved rifle-pits, with 
abattis in front, and then were compelled by the murdering 
fire of the enemy to fall back under orders. The color 
bearer was shot dead in the forehead. Several others were 
shot outright. Our batteries opened immediately upon the 
rebel defences, in which the enemy were a thousand strong, 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 141 

with how much execution we could not know. Report said 
that the re-call was sounded four times and our forces did 
not hear, and that then a messenger was sent to them. The 
Union dead and wounded, about fifty in all, were left on the 
field and recovered when the darkness came on. Eight of 
the brave fellows were buried the next day, and, by request, 
the band of the Eleventh rendered their services on the 
mournful occasion. To the Rhode Island boys it seemed 
that, in this case, '-somebody blundered," but perhaps they 
Avere mistaken. 

The contrabands had a share in the defence of Suffolk. 
;t A large number were employed on the fortifications at this 
place. The presence of this 'southern shqvelry ' materially 
lessened the labor of our soldiers." 

HOW THE SIEGE OF SFFFOLK WAS RAISED. 

Saturday evening, the 2d of May, came, and to those 
unacquainted with official secrets there was every indication 
of a quiet Sabbath ; but a few hours brought the long roll, 
and thousands of troops under arms. Morning saw an 
army in motion for a reconnoissance in force across the Nan- 
semond, to ascertain the situation of the enemy north of our 
camp. 

As soon as breakfast could be swallowed, we put into our 
haversacks two days' rations, cooked per order the night 
before, filled our canteens with the purest spring water, took 
seventy rounds of cartridges, and our blankets only, formed 
in due time in line of battle, and patiently waited the order 
to march. Meanwile, in plain sight of our camp, a force 
of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, equal to a large army in 
Revolutionary times, moved past Maj.-Gen. Peck's head- 
quarters and crossed the bridge just to the north of us. The 



142 HISTORY OF THE 

advance, the One Hundred and Third New York, led by 
Col. Ringgold, deployed as skirmishers, and proceeded up a 
long incline and into the woods. Other regiments moved in 
the same direction. We saw the smoke of battle, heard the 
roar of artillery and the rattle of musketry from morning 
until night : we saw the ambulances returning with the 
wounded, and some of the Eleventh were on guard at the 
hospitals, and prepared the mortally, horribly wounded for 
their last long sleep. Our surgeons and chaplain assisted 
in the care of the wounded and dying. Col. Ringgold, on 
foot, and far ahead of the brave One Hundred and Third, 
whom he led, was killed, and a number of other officers of 
lesser rank. Our killed and wounded, at all points, amounted 
to one hundred or more. 

The Eleventh stood in line of battle under a broiling sun 
all day, momentarily expecting the order to move. But we 
were in the reserves, and as evening drew nigh began to 
think that our turn would not come. Suddenly, at seven 
o'clock, an order arrived, and in a few moments the long 
line was moving towards the bridge. We counter-marched 
in passing off the camp-ground, and as the head of the 
column passed each company, words of cheer urged the 
comrades on. So unexpected was the order that our Colonel 
and Major were absent on business, and Lieut. -Col. Pitman 
took command. As he rode along the line with a straw hat 
on his head and a pipe in his mouth, loud and prolonged 
cheers told him plainly that the boys would stand by him. 
Col. Church met us at Gen. Peck's headquarters, and, 
instead of being marched across the river, we filed to the 
left, were posted in the rifle-pits near its banks, and slept 
on our arms during the night. Thus our third chance of 
getting at the rebels was dissipated. 

We believe that the general in command expected to 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 143 

renew the engagement the next morning ; but the rebel birds 
had flown and were moving hurriedly towards the Black- 
water river. Five hundred, or perhaps more, rebels came 
in and gave themselves up as prisoners. Many of them 
requested not to be paroled. It was the opinion of some 
that the rebels began to move on the Saturday previous, and 
that a heavy force pushed forward would have saved life 
and been productive of far more glorious results. The 
rebels dropped letters on the way, inviting us to meet them 
on the Blackwater. Brig. -Gen. Corcoran, with a consider- 
able force, was up and after them next morning, but did not 
catch them. Among the fortifications evacuated was, in the 
estimation of military men, one superior earthwork. A 
letter from Gen. Hill to Gen. Longstreet was left behind 
announcing his arrival at a certain point, and placing his 
command at the disposal of the latter. 

All was quiet on the Nansemond Monday, the 4th of 
May. The sound of cannon, the screeching of shells, the 
constant crack of the rifles of sharp-shooters, and the 
musketry of infantry ceased and we rested quietly in our 
camp. 

AN ILLUMINATION. 

As darkness drew on there was an unlooked for change in 
the programme. The Sergeant Major went round and gave 
notice that lights would be permitted in our quarters. In 
his gush of feeling at so unexpected a privilege, one man 
lighted his candle and set it on the ground in front of his 
tent ; a few men of Company F brought theirs out of doors ; 
Company A followed ; the infection spread, and the lights 
began to appear upon the peaks of the tents. Moonlight 
was deferred by cloudiness and the regular order, until 



I 1 1 HISTORY OF THE 

after tattoo. The air was still, and hundreds of lights were 
now to be seen. Then a procession of two hundred or 
more, with lighted candles, was formed and inarched round 
the camp, cheered, and cheering on their way. 

The lights Still remained upon the tents, some in long 
rows of lil'teen to forty each, some in the form of crosses or 
of signal lights. The illumination became still more gen- 
eral, the whole camp was aroused and in one blaze of light. 
The brass hand was now called for, and were constrained to 
come out. The platoons of lights increased in number and 
soon moved out on to the parade. k * By companies into 
line!'' And the" great procession took up its line of march 
to the Colonel's quarters, headed by the hand, and counter- 
marched in the field officers' street, the hand discoursing its 
finest music. On passing the street of Company I, a color 
bearer marched out bearing an illuminated cross high in the 
air, in the rear of the hand. While at the officers' quarters 
the hoys, surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd of spectators, 
officers and men, ventilated themselves by cheering for 
whomsoever they pleased, shouting out all the orders they 
had ever heard, and making some of the sharpest and keen- 
est hits imaginable. 

When the men, tired, while the hand were playing, 
u Order arms " was the word, and the candles rested upon 
the ground ; " Parade rest," and the action was suited to 
the words ; ''Forward," and the camp was encompassed 
once more, the companies filing into their streets as the 
column marched past them, tattoo sounded and the game 

played out. 

This was a fitting conclusion to the success of our arms, 
and the cheering news that came to us from all quarters. 
It was brilliant beyond description and wholly impromptu. 
It could not have happened had we not been deprived of 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. L45 

candle-light for so long a period. In the language of 
another: "The men were determined to have their lull 
amount of light, even if it could not be distributed to their 
liking." The display was received with pleasure at (Jen. 
Peek's headquarters, it waked up the whole town of 
Suffolk and the numerous camps in our vicinity. To quote 
U J. P>. (J." : "The illumination was witnessed by a large 
multitude in town, and pronounced a most enchanting enter- 
tainment." " After taps had sounded and the camp was as 
still and as dark as on former evenings, about ten o'clock a 
party of singers assembled in trout of Col. Church's tent, 
and gave a most entertaining serenade. Thus passed one of 
the most pleasant evenings since we left the friends at home, 
and the men are all the better prepared to endure the 
fatigues of a march if called to it. because of the invigorat- 
ing effect of such an entertainment upon their spirits.'" 

The same correspondent adds: "The religious element in 
our regiment is improving, and ten or fifteen young men 
have manifested a deep interest in reference to their spiritual 
welfare, and nearly every day there are new cases of inquiry 
for the ways of wisdom." 

The morning after the illumination the majority of the 
men in the regiment bathed in the Xansemond, where but a 
few davs before the bullets of the enemy would have been 
whistling around them. 

Another presentation came off on the same evening. 
Orderly Crocker presented to our new sergeant major, 
Charles II. Scott, a very line sword, in behalf of the officers 
and men of Company B. It was a well-timed gift, most 

worthily bestowed. 
13 



146 HISTORY OF THE 

REBEL RIFLE-PITS REBEL RELICS AND SECESH PEOPLE. 

Fatigue duty was not abandoned after the departure of 
the rebels, but we worked by an inverse process, on the 
rebel rifle-pits instead of our own. Details were made from 
our ranks to level the breast- works and rifle-pits across the 
Nansemond, the farthest being about five miles from camp. 
At first the work had its attractions because it would gratify 
our curiosity about many things. 

With such ideas, on an unpleasant day the boys started 
out in good spirits, on the South Quay road four or five 
miles, and worked in half- hour reliefs patiently till night, 
filling rebel intrenchments in a stiff, clayey soil that stuck 
like glue to the shovel, and convinced the boys that it was 
tough work. Meanwhile, though the party were outside 
our cavalry pickets, those who were resting scoured the 
woods and plantations about, to see what could be seen and 
appropriate what they liked. Pieces of newspapers, Rich- 
mond papers as late as May 1st, religious papers from all 
parts of the south, religious tracts, rebel songs, camp uten- 
sils of all kinds, letters on various subjects, Confederate 
money and postage stamps. Almost every one succeeded in 
securing some kind of a trophy. 

Most of the letters were poor specimens of spelling and 
penmanship. Some of them breathed an ignorant and 
wicked spirit against us innocent Yankees. The majority, 
perhaps, of these letters, were pervaded by a strong religious 
tone, especially to sons and brothers in the army. There 
was one tender epistle, well written, properly spelled, quite 
long, bearing all the marks of an educated mind, influenced, 
however, by emotions that were not meant to be made pub- 
lic. A verse of poetry, the poorest part of the letter in a 
literary sense, wo quott* : 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 147 

" CONSTANCY. 

" The sun may her bright beams withhold, Jeramie, 
Unreflected the moonbeams may be; 
But not till this bosom be cold, Jemmie, 
Shall its pulse throb for any but thee." 

Some of the comrades found a different attraction in the 
live-stock, principally pigs and hogs, that ran at large in the 
woods. The cracking of rifles told how much they appre- 
ciated such fun. The bayonet and knife also were brought 
into play, and sundry pigs and sundry pieces by night made 
a tour to our camp. This was all unlawful, as the sequel 
proved, but it was none the less true. 

PEOPLE WE MET. 

The few people that we met were secesh of the bitterest 
stamp ; but the boys reported one farm-house with seven 
good-looking, refined and intelligent young ladies, and three 
younger brothers at home, with the farm-house and all the 
surroundings in the neatest possible style ; better than any- 
thing they had seen in Virginia. They tried to obtain meals 
there, but their servants had all left them. They could not 
cook themselves. They were doing their own work to the 
best of their ability. Other families were visited, but this 
was a rare specimen. Contrabands were scarce ; some of 
them had been carried off by the rebels ; others had carried 
themselves off. 

" A. D. N." gives the following, which is too good to be 
omitted : 

"Notwithstanding the oft-repeated assertion that there was no 
Union sentiment at the South, I met an unconditional Union man 
on Sunday last, while on picket duty on the Norfolk and Petersburg 
railroad. He was about fifty years old. In answer to the inquiry 
if he was a Union man, he made the following reply: ' I was born 



1 IS HISTORY OF THE 

in the Union; I have always lived in the Union; I have always 
loved the old Union; I have always voted for the Union, and when 
I die, whether I goto hell or heaven, 1 shall stick by theold Union! ' 

I put him down as an unconditional Union man, at the same time 
handing him a copy of a certain Now York daily, which I chanced 
to have in my pocket. 

" As an offset to the above, allow me to relate an incident which 
occurred on the morning after our arrival in Suffolk. After we 
landed, we were drawn up in line on the sidewalk of the principal 
street, where we halted a short time. I sat down to rest a few min- 
utes on the doorstep of a private residence. Presently an elderly 
lady, attracted by the noise in the street, appeared at the door and 
inquired where our regiment was from. 1 told her that we were 
from Rhode Island. ' Rhode Island.' she repeated, ' w here's that? 
in North Carolina'." I told her it joined Massachusetts. She then 
inquired what we came OUt there for. I told her we came to fight 
for the Union. 'They say you've come to fight for the niggers,' 
said she. 'and if I were a man I would resist to the death before I 
would do it ! ' The order came to fall in and 1 left the old lady 
soliloquizing upon the causes w Inch led to this wicked war. and its 
probable result to both North and South. Whether she was igno- 
rant of the geographical position of Rhode Island, or had con- 
founded it with Roanoke Island, your readers can judge for 
themselves." 



ROUTINE — "('AMP PERR1 PIGGEREL. 

Speculations were rife at that time as to when the rebel 
army evacuated their intrenchments across the Nansemond, 
and as to whether there were more than a handful of rebels 
opposed to us for at least a week before they finally left our 
immediate front ; but these inquiries are of little account 
now. 

Our routine of duty from May 9th, and forward, was drill 
in the "manual" twice a day; an hour and three-quarters 
in all, beside frequent drillings in "dressing" at dress- 
parade. To this must he added shovelling, picket and guard 
duty, and sleeping out nights, to support batteries. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 140 

There were sonic noteworthy special orders at dress- 
parade, Saturday, the 9th of May. The camp which we 
had occupied for nearly a month was, by an order from our 
Colonel, named "Camp Perry." An order from Maj. -Gen. 
Peek, commanding, gave thanks to Divine Providence for 
the success of our forces in silencing a heavy battery on the 
opposite l>;mk of the Nansemond some distance below our 
camp. 

Another order from the same source, rendered thanks to 
the Almighty for our success in compelling the enemy to 
raise the siege of Suffolk. 

The Sunday following was made memorable to us by the 
march of four hundred men of the Eleventh five or six 
miles out, to level half a mile of rebel breastworks. The 
morning was glorious, the day fine, the sun very hot. The 
men worked with spirit, and accomplished much more than 
was expected of them. They returned to camp about half- 
past seven in the evening, to learn that had they not engaged 
in that Sunday expedition, they would have passed through 
a brigade inspection and review. They were greatly pleased 
with the country, with the peculiar style of the negro 
houses,* fences and walls, and with the large growth of the 
magnificent and valuable pine timber. 

During that interesting period we were highly amused, 
instructed and admonished by the reading of an order, in 
our Adjutant's most impressive style, recounting the pro- 
ceedings of a court martial at which a number of men of 
the Eleventh were arraigned for shooting or killing a u pig 
or pigs, hog or hogs," belonging to Knight, Ballard, or 
person or persons unknown, on a certain day when ordered 

*Many of the negro houses were built of split pine, thin and larger than our 
clapboards, and the style of the exterior of some of them would be creditable 
to a summer resort like Martha's Vineyard. 



150 HISTORY OF THE 

to do fatigue duty, some five miles or so from camp, and 
appropriating some piece or pieces of pig or pigs, hog or 
liosrs to their own use The offenders were sentenced to do 
three days' police duty around camp. The character of the 
composition has been called by one writer " Piggerel." We 
give it in the original in order that it may be fully appre- 
ciated. 

We rejoiced in a new regimental flag, raised Thursday 
morning. May 1 1th, in front of our Colonel's quarters, by 
the hands ot* Gen. Terry, commander of our brigade. The 
band played the "Star Spangled Banner," "Yankee Doo- 
dle," and other airs. 

Madame rumor informed us that the night before, our 
cavalry pickets were alarmed by a great noise in a church 
near our lines, and called for help, supposing that the rebels 
had entered it. It turned out that a "pig or pigs, hog or 
hogs" was raising a rumpus inside. Skirmishing continued 
on the line of the Blackwater. 

IN THE FIELD — THE DESERTED HOUSE. 

Orders to be ready to march in an hour were received as 
early as one o'clock Saturday morning, the 16th of May. 
The cooks were routed out. rations were prepared, compa- 
nies supporting batteries were called in, a portion of our 
pickets likewise, an early breakfast was devoured, blankets 
and rations only were taken, a small guard and those unable 
to march were left behind, and at five o'clock on a bright 
sunny morning, we were off for an unknown destination. 
All this was done with the remarkable promptness and 
cheerfulness of spirit which characterized the regiment, 
Company A claiming to be first in line. It was guessed 
that we were to follow a strong force that had already 



I ; I , E V E N TH I ! EGI M E N T . 1 .*) 1 

moved in the direction of the Blackwater, and the event 
proved the calculation correct. 

The route was pleasant and the road not a hard one to 
travel. We rested and prepared to encamp at nine o'clock. 
We were not, therefore, affected by the intense rays of the 
sun. Now and then we passed a good looking house or a 
patch of cultivated land. The pleasant perfume of locust 
trees regaled us at one spot, and the great quantity of woods 
on either side of our way afforded frequent and often con- 
tinuous shade. The principal feature in our march of nine 
miles in a little more than three hours and a half, was the 
ease and spirit with which it was made. Officers and men 
gave praise to Col. Church for his considerate care and 
judicious orders. Halts sufficiently frequent were made in 
shady localities. Straggling was unknown, and when our 
final halt was made, the men were in splendid condition and 
astonished at the result. 

The Twenty-sixth Michigan had the start of us, but 
reached the place about the same time with ourselves, halt- 
ing on the opposite side of the road. The Ninety-ninth 
New York and Nineteenth Michigan halted near us, but 
moved farther on in the afternoon. 

The main force of about fifteen thousand infantry, cavalry 
and artillery, were at Carsville, nine miles beyond, and had 
had more or less skirmishing with the enemy. 

We encamped on a spot of historic interest. Those best 
posted in the regiment were at once aware that the most 
striking scenes in Mrs. Stowe's "Dred" were laid in that 
locality, and those familiar with her narrative could point to 
the places of meeting in the direction of the Dismal Swamp, 
and the stronghold where Dred and his trusty black war- 
riors were concealed. 

Our camping-ground was also in the region of Nat Tur- 



152 HISTORY OF THE 

ner's famous insurrection, thirty years or more previous, 
and it is believed that in the large opening in those splendid 
pine forests, the planters met to devise means to crush the 
unwarranted uprising : and thai on a gigantic butternut near 
by, the negro rebels were hung. Further, that the large 
house now in ruins at the forks of the road, just northwest 
of our earn}), finally became deserted because the dark 
spirits of these unlucky insurrectionists came nightly to 
haunt it. The people about us partly confirmed these 
accounts, but none of them seemed to know how far it was 
to any given point on our route, nor had they ever heard of 
President Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. 

That wonderful conspiracy, planned by a black mind, 
almost set negrodom in a blaze. It ended in hanging a 
great many negroes, and it waked up the whole State of 
Virginia ; for the legislature of that State took it up ; the 
horrors and dangers of slavery were fully discussed, and 
only four votes were lacking to carry an act of emancipation. 
It was one of those chances that Heaven gives a nation to 
escape thunderbolts long held in store and enjoy long years 
of unparalleled prosperity ; but it was neglected ; a blacker 
darkness succeeded, and the change and desolation which, 
during the war, swept over Virginia and her sister states, 
could only be understood by an eye-witness. 

One other event made that ground historic. On the pre- 
vious 30th of December, Gen. Roger A. Pryor, who once 
challenged Potter, of Ohio, and was afraid to fight him 
with the bowie-knife, met our forces under Gen. Corcoran, 
received a severe drubbing and skedaddled to the Black- 
water. The dead horses and amputated trees gave undoubted 
evidence that a real battle was fought on this plain and in 
these woods. 



E I i E V E N TPI 1 1 E( JIM E NT . 1 5 3 

THE NEW CAMP — VARIETY. 

A brief rest was taken after our arrival, and then men 
and officers busied themselves in constructing comfortable 
quarters. The messes in the various companies looked out 
for themselves, and the woods near by were laid under con- 
tribution for poles and boughs to construct booths. Our 
blankets made an inviting shade by day, and shelter from the 
rain and dew at night. The result was a great number of 
the oddest and most fantastic habitations that could be 
imagined. Many turned their blankets into hammocks and 
swung them from the trees. 

The next move was to scour the country and gratify curi- 
osity, for in this the Rhode Island boys stood A 1. Mounted 
riflemen had preceded us and set fire to all the uninhabited 
dwellings in the vicinity, per order of their superiors, and 
some nice houses were levelled without mercy because they 
afforded shelter for rebel bushwhackers. At such places 
and at a few farm-houses not deserted, the boys gathered 
flowers of many kinds and also some cotton, for it was the 
custom of these people to raise from fifty to one hundred 
pounds yearly for family use. The men also obtained some- 
thing to eat, and gathered what information Yankee ques- 
tioning could draw out, which was *• riffht smart, we 
reckon." 

All things went smoothly through the day. It was the 
most novel life the regiment had led and was greatly enjoyed. 
The Colonel, staff and line officers had the same luxurious 
beds and shelter, the same inviting fare of hard-tack and 
salt beef, with a cup of coffee with or without sugar, as the 
men had been frugal or otherwise, by way of variety. 
Evening brought a large amount of good singing which 
pleased the Colonel at first, but which he put his veto on 



1")4 HISTORY OF THE 

when it trenched upon his hours of sleep. Midnight — 
bang! " Turn out! " and in five minutes the Eleventh had 
left their beds and were ready to meet the enemy ; but as 
it was a false alarm, the Colonel proposed that we go back 
to bed and sleep until morning, and it was done. 

SUNDAY WHITE TRASH SERENADE TO GEN. CORCORAN. 

The Sabbath was a quiet day, very much like Sunday 
without religious services. The Chaplain was absent most 
of the time, and except one or two small gatherings for 
Bible study holden in the woods, it was simply a day of 
abstinence from drill, inspection, review, etc., though we 
had a dress-parade, for the benefit of the Michiganders near 
us, we believe, and obtained much credit therefor. 

To vary the monotony, several specimens of the poor 
white trash came into our camp at the Deserted House, and 
one deserter from the rebels. From the testimony of one of 
the poor whites it appeared that the planters could let their 
ne«rro men out in North Carolina to make tar, for one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars per year, while in that region white 
help like himself, and he looked pretty well, could be 
obtained for fifty dollars a year. He seemed to rank him- 
self beneath the black man. 

For further variety, as there was abundant room, we 
Avere treated Monday, the 18th, to battalion drill, and as it was 
understood that our service in that region would continue 
some days longer^ we received three days' extra rations. A 
part of these were baked beans ; excellent in some compa- 
nies, while in others, by some mischance or exposure to the 
hot weather, they were no better to the men than sour 
grapes. Picket duty was performed for a number of days 
in succession by Companies C and E. U A platoon of Com- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 155 

pany E were ordered to proceed some six or seven miles dis- 
tant to a point on the Weldon railroad, and hold possession 
until relieved. They remained there two days." 

The object of the expedition, now apparent to every one, 
was to remove the rails from the track of the Seaboard and 
Roanoke Railroad from Carsville, near the Blackwater river, 
to Suffolk. To accomplish this a large force of contrabands 
was sent out to do the work, and a strong military force, of 
which we were a part, to protect them. The sequel will 
show what was done. 

Up to the time of Gen. Corcoran 's arrival all the forces 
were under the command of Colonel, acting Brigadier, Fos- 
ter. There Avere, as reported, six or seven brigadiers in 
Suffolk, none of whom had then appeared to take command. 
A number of the colonels acted as brigadiers. 

Gen. Corcoran having arrived on the evening of the 19th, 
was serenaded by the band of the Eleventh, and with vocal 
music by our officers. His headquarters were with us dur- 
ing the night. In the following morning all the regiments 
about us, our own included, turned out early under arms, 
in anticipation of an attack, and remained so until sunrise. 

REPORTED DISASTER TO THE ELEVENTH FALSE ALARM AND 

MARCH TO WINDSOR. 

The New York Herald of the 22d of May, published a 
ridiculous account that created no little consternation among; 
the friends at home, stating that the Eleventh had an engage- 
ment with the One Hundred and Fifty-second New York, 
and that several of our men were killed or wounded. As 
stated at the time, we had no such engagement and made no 
such foolish mistake. Information first came to our camp 
that the Tenth New Jersey and the One Hundred and Sixty- 



15(5 HISTORY OF THE 

ninth and One Hundred and Seventieth New York were 
falling back to the Deserted House and were attacked by 
guerillas, losing one killed and six wounded. We will let 
"J. B. G." tell the story: "The truth is. that on the 
night of the ll)th, the One Hundred and Seventieth New 
York met the Tenth New Jersey, and in some inexcusable 
way they mistook each other for rebels. Most of the injury 
done was in the One Hundred and Seventieth, and chiefly 
by their own men. Could you have seen the officers of that 
regiment as they reeled about the next morning and through 
the day, you would say, as is often the case in our disasters, 
• whiskey did it.' 

Another account says: u Several of the killed and 
wounded were brought into camp at the Deserted House." 

Still another says: "It appears that the horse of the 
Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventieth New York 
threw his rider because he was unable to stay <m. and ran in 
the dark among the Tenth New Jersey. They tired, and 
the One Hundred and Seventieth returned the tire, and the 
Tenth suffered in one killed and six wounded." * 

Another false alarm occurred on the 20th instant, occa- 
sioned by Col. Wardrop, a cavalry officer, and orderlies rid- 
ing swiftly up to the Colonel's quarters and ordering the 
men to fall in, for the rebels were upon us ; but not a rebel 
appeared. The mistake arose from the idea that a regiment 
of the enemy, instead of one of our own, was moving 
towards Suffolk. 

* The writer saw next day a musket in the New York regiment which had 
been struck by a bullet from the New .Jersey regiment. It was hit square 
against the band, the bullet penetrating so far as to make an opening through 
both sides of the barrel. The ball was left embedded in the barrel and showed 
from both sides. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 157 



ON THE MARCH WINDSOR. 



An order to inarch was received the same day, and soon 
after six o'clock the whole force of infantry, cavalry and 
artillery were in motion across the country, and after a 
tramp of about six miles by twilight, young moonlight and 
darkness, the Eleventh crossed the rails of the Petersburg 
Railroad, and rested a mile south of Windsor station. Dust 
was prevalent on the road, and heavy pine forests lined 
either side of our way. 

Our immediate neighbors were the One Hundred .and 
Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania and the Nineteenth Wisconsin. 
The latter regiment were somewhat notorious for living on 
the enemy. Sheep and hogs furnished them with meat. 
They found plenty of corn, and in two instances, ground 
many bushels of meal in mills which they discovered and 
ran themselves. 

Guerillas or bushwhackers were said to frequent the route 
of our march, to play the farmer by day and to murder by 
night. Report said that one of them was caught by the 
regiment just mentioned and shot without ceremony. It 
was also said that a couple of companies of Pennsylvania 
mounted riflemen, a part of our force, ventured too far and 
lost a few men. 

We encamped near Windsor in a spot similar to the one 
we had just left, a large circular opening in the woods. It 
differed, in being divided by a straight railroad track, with 
the heaviest rail and best built road we had ever seen. 
Government made a handsome thing in tearing up, and sav- 
ing for use, so many miles of such a track. The boys soon 
transformed the barren cotton field into a comfortable dwell- 
ing place. Innumerable booths, in every variety of style, 
composed of boughs, rubber blankets, and fence rails bor- 
14 



158 HISTORY OF THE 

rowed for the occasion, covered the ground by what would 
be early breakfast hour at home, though the hot coffee, 
(made by themselves), crackers and salt-junk or pork, was 
devoured some time before. 

Windsor is a one-horse town, and almost a one-house town. 
Four or five houses at most, including the depot and a few 
more, a quarter or a half a mile hack, constituted the town. 
Union people were very scarce, and few men were to be 
seen. Some of the hoys visited a farm down the road and 
chatted with the owner, who was somewhat inquisitive. 
They gave him information freely, and told him the force 
about there amounted to seventy thousand men, and fifty 
pieces of cannon ! " Well," said he, "] thought there was 
a mighty heap of you 'un's 'round here." 

There we remained all day Thursday and through the 
night. Our forces had hardly reached Windsor the night 
before, ere a locomotive with flats attached and a large 
company of contrabands passed up above the town, began 
to remove the rails and transport them to a safe place. 
The business was done in the most approved style and with 
very little loss of material. 

THE ELEVENTH IN THE ADVANCE — SKIRMISH WITH THE 

REBELS. 

About eight o'clock Friday morning, order came suddenly 
to fall in. Our blankets were rolled up in a trice, and we 
were in line and moving off the ground in ten minutes. 
Windsor was reckoned twelve miles by common road from 
Suffolk. We marched past the station with our brass band 
and drum band ahead, past the Sixth Massachusetts and 
Thirteenth Indiana, that had been in the advance, past 
Gen. C'orcoran's headquarters, and took the advance our- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 159 

selves. " Old soldiers," said the men in the regiments that 
we passed, and they cheered us on. We were moving to a 
point where there was a probability of a brush with the 
enemy, and our Colonel requested that the Eleventh might 
be placed in the advance. 

We moved on mid dust, the heat of the sun, and fires in 
the woods, about three miles and a half beyond Windsor, 
and halted at about the same distance from the Blackwater 
river, near Antioch church, in another opening in the woods. 
The Twenty-sixth Michigan were on the right and a section 
of Battery D, Fourth United States Artillery, were near us. 
The rays of the sun beat fiercely on our heads, and we 
immediately sought the shelter of the woods and bushes, on 
the edge of which our line rested. Our pickets were hardly 
thrown out, when "fall in" was the word, and we were 
told that our cavalry pickets had been driven in and that 
rebel infantry were following up ; but it amounted to noth- 
ing. Several of these alarms followed during the day, and 
we became quite used to them. We had to go beyond our 
own pickets to obtain water. 

Towards night, and until after dark, there was sharp firing, 
desultory at first, soon increasing, and at times quite rapid. 
It was plain that our pickets were at it, and they kept at it 
until the rebels disappeared. In the morning we learned 
more definitely, that Company F, Capt. Taft, with Lieut. 
Hudson, commanding the reserve, had fairly engaged the 
enemy's skirmishers, and done their part handsomely. It 
was proven beyond a doubt that the boys had no notion of 
being afraid of rebel bullets, and they were a fair match for 
the well-trained skirmishers of the rebel army. None of 
Company F were hurt, though the bullets of the enemy 
whistled plentifully around them. Col. Church, who pro- 
ceeded to the scene of action when the firing began, was 



1()0 HISTORY OF THE 

immediately asked to dismount by a rebel bullet, and obeyed 
without a repetition of the request. Whether more than 
one of the enemy was struck by the bullets from our side 
we do not know. We supposed there were. The pickets 
of the Twenty-sixth Michigan were also firing at the same 
time. Next morning the hat and rifle of a soldier from a 
Mississippi regiment were brought in, and one of the 
mounted riflemen soon after obtained the body, which left 
no doubt that one rebel was killed by somebody, the Michi- 
ganders claiming the honor. • 

Upwards of thirty dollars Confederate money was found 
upon the body and some valuables. On the rifle was "R. 
A. Neely, Second Mississippi A r olunteers." 

We slept quietly and undisturbed Friday night. Careful 
provision was made to repel an attack. Company F was 
relieved on picket at ten o'clock by Company K, Capt. 
Mowry. Company C, Capt. Parkhurst, was also sent out 
as a support. The pioneers felled trees at night to barri- 
cade the road on which our line rested. 

It was understood that we should fall back to Windsor as 
early, at least, as Saturday night, because the work on the 
railroad would be completed to that point, but the rebels 
were unwilling to let us off without one more visit. So, 
five o'clock in the afternoon, (perhaps they got wind of our 
intentions), pop, pop, pop ; then too rapid to count ; then a 
volley. The orderlies and horsemen came dashing down 
the road and the Eleventh were in line of battle in a twink- 
ling. The cavalry pickets had fallen back, and the infantry 
pickets, Companies K and C and the Michigan boys, were 
having a lively time of it. Now the musketry rattled, and 
we could see the flashes in the woods ahead and the smoke. 
The rebels were reported coming up the road. 

"Right dress! load at will!" was the order of Col. 



ELEVENTH. REGIMENT. 161 

Church. More pickets (one-half of Company E, Capt. 
James,) were sent out on the left ; the officers' quarters, 
the dwellings of a day, were swept away, and the field 
cleared for action. "Company B, right face! forward 
march!" and up the road they went at double-quick, and 
deployed as skirmishers into the woods several hundred 
yards beyond us, while the other companies waited patiently 
and eagerly for the order to follow them. The Colonel 
urged his men to fight, but the words were not needed ; the 
order was sufficient, and the previous conduct of the regi- 
ment was a warrant that Rhode Island would have had no 
cause to be ashamed of their action. 

Gen. Dodge's headquarters were under a big tree, a little 
up the road on our right, and under his orders the battery 
opened with shell upon the rebels in the woods. The fuses 
were too short, and the missiles at first exploded over the 
heads of Companies K and B, but the mistake was quickly 
corrected, and the enemy received the full benefit of shot 
and shell. 

Gen. Dodge's orders were, not to attack, but only to 
repel the enemy. Company K was in front, and a cavalry- 
man had just reported to Capt. Mowry that no rebels were 
near. The latter ordered his men t) remain concealed, 
when, a moment or two after, a volley from a hidden foe 
showed that the trooper had been cheated. At the outset, 
our boys were beyond the barricade in the road, and the 
enemy, with a force of cavalry flanked by infantry, one 
hundred and fifty or two hundred strong, charged upon our 
small force of pickets, who fell back on the reserve to a safer 
position, giving the foe a sharp fire on their retreat. They 
maintained their position till dark and after our whole force 
was well on its way to Windsor. Each company acquitted 
itself well. 



Ifi2 HISTORY OF THE 

Company C brought in two prisoners captured that night, 
and six more came in next morning. Companies B, C, and 
K acted as rear guard. The remainder of the regiment felt 
disappointed only because they had no share in the business. 

The rebels were completely foiled, and lost, said the pris- 
oners, one man killed and six wounded, while not a man on 
our side received a scratch. 

We add the account of this affair given by "A. D. N." : 

"About live o'clock on Saturday afternoon, sharp firing was 
heard between our pickets and those of the rebels. Our pickets, 
Companies C and K, were soon driven in by a rebel force of cavalry 
and infantry. Our regiment was immediately ordered into line, 
and Company B was sent down the road on the ' double-quick ' to 
support the pickets. As soon as we arrived at our destination we 
were ordered to deploy as skirmishers. We deployed on the right 
and left of the road and advanced into the woods, where we 
remained until dark, advancing and retreating, and exchanging 
shots with the rebels. Meanwhile two pieces of our artillery kept 
up a brisk fire of shot and shell, which passed directly over our 
heads and had their designed effect, in causing the rebels to fall 
back from their position. One or two companies of the Twenty- 
sixth Michigan were also deployed on our right as skirmishers. A 
captain of one of the companies was shot in the arm by one of his 
own men during the skirmish. He has since died from the effects 
of the wound. His funeral took place on Wednesday last. Our 
much-esteemed First Lieutenant came near being shot by mistake, 
by a member of Company C. Companies C and K were deployed 
in our rear. The lieutenant's life was only saved by the marksman 
being a poor shot, as he was within a few rods of him when he fired. 

" The rebels are said to have had two regiments of infantry, two 
companies of cavalry and two pieces of artillery. They used only 
a small part of their force in the skirmish. Two rebels delivered 
themselves up to Company C as prisoners. They belonged to the 
Second Mississippi Volunteers, and declared themselves tired of 
fighting. They said there were two hundred more men of the same 
regiment who were anxious to get inside of our lines. They repre- 
sented that there was a rebel force of eight thousand at the Black- 
water. 

" It was in this skirmish that our boys were, for the first time. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 163 

' under fire,' and I but speak the sentiment of the regiment when I 
say that they behaved well. Every man was in his place and did 
his duty. Not one of them was injured."* 

Another account states that the two prisoners brought 
in by Company C said that opposed to us were six compa- 
nies of the Second and two of the Eleventh Mississippi, 
and two companies of cavalry. 

From another source we have the following : 

" After that all was quiet for about an hour, when firing 
slowly began. The rebels were seen about six hundred 
yards in front, filing across the road, and our advance posts 
opened fire upon them, but the distance was too great for 
any execution. Soon after this, firing was heard on the 
right, and Capt. Mowry, who had been for upwards of half 
an hour firing upon the enemy with the musket of one of 
the men from his front post, hastened back to the cover of 
the woods, and sent Private Hicks on the run down to the 
right to find out what the matter was, saying he feared they 
would be flanked. Before Private Hicks could return to 
report, a sudden volley was fired, and three companies of 
rebel infantry advanced from the orchard on our right, and 
three companies from the ' road lined with bushes,' on the 
left, while a squadron of cavalry and two howitzers came 
thundering down the road in front. 

"The picket men rallied at the barricade, and as the 
rebels came up opened fire upon them with considerable 
execution. The men on the right had just time to jump 

* " In this skirmish," writes another, " a platoon of Company E was ordered 
forward to the centre. They entered a wood just beyond which was a plain, 
and beyond that another wood, from which emerged several hundred rebels. 
They advanced to the centre of the plain, then gave one of their characteristic 
yells and charged upon our line. Immediately our men were ordered to load 
and fire as rapidly as possible. Five or six volleys were fired. The rebels did 
not advance far into the wood, but came within about two hundred feet of our 
skirmish line and then retired." 



H"> 1 HISTORY OF THE 

into the woods and save themselves from capture, and those 
on tlic left also narrowly escaped being taken. One man 
lost his blanket and another his cap. lint they all obeyed 
orders, and the barricade was held, though against fearful 
odds. There were not more than thirty men in that part of 
the company that fell back to the barricade, the rest of them 
being on the cross road towards the left. But these men 
successfully resisted the six companies of infantry, and 
drove them back. Daring this sharp and rapid firing, one 
of the men, Private Patterson, broke tin; nipple of his mus- 
ket, and was thus disabled. With scarce a moment's hesi- 
tation he threw the gun over his shoulder and marched 
back to the rest of the regiment, borrowed another musket, 
and was soon loading and firing as if nothing of the sort 
had happened. While thus engaged in tiring, ('apt. Mowry's 
colored boy, John Taylor, got a musket from some one, and 
stood lip boldly at the barricade, loading and tiring with 
great rapidity. On one of the small branches of a large 
tree had been thrown a canteen. In the haste, this useful 
article had been left swinging there, when a minie ball struck 
it near one edge and set it whirling with considerable swift- 
ness. This pleased John, and he, laughing heartily, said, 
'See de canteen whirling, see de canteen whirling.' Mean- 
time Companies 1> and E were sent forward from the regi- 
ment, now drawn up in line of battle and waiting for orders 
to march forward, on the double-quick, and deployed as 
skirmishers ; Company H, Capt. Thrasher, to the right of 
the road, and Company E, Capt. James, to the left of the 
road. Soon there was a lull in the tiring of the enemy, 
probably caused by the rapid shelling from a couple of 
Parrots, which opened upon them by order of (Jen. Dodge, 
in command of our artillery, dust at this juncture, when 
the artillery had Stopped tiring, ('apt. Mowry, Company 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 165 

K ran out to the front to reconnoitre, supposing from 
commands, which could be distinctly heard through the 
thin skirt of woods that separated us from the open plain 
beyond, that Col. Church had deployed the regiment, or what 
remained of it at the rear, unengaged, to the right, by an 
old cart path, and so had attacked the rebels at close quar- 
ters. The Captain, therefore, wishing to learn the exact 
position at the front, that he might lead his company forward 
and join the regiment in this attack upon the enemy which 
had so suddenly driven in his pickets, hurried forward past 
the barricade, beyond the line of skirmishers, and suddenly 
presented himself in the open road in full view of the plain 
beyond. 

" What was his astonishment, then, on looking up the 
road, to find, drawn up in column by platoons in the light 
pines, those six companies of rebel skirmishers, just ahead 
of him, in full view, and only about sixty yards from him. 
It required but a second of time to comprehend the situation. 
They were not blue-coats at all, as he had supposed, but 
they were in very truth, ' gray-backs.' But no sooner had 
that truth flashed upon his mind, than those veritable gray- 
backs, all, with a singular unanimity of purpose, and with- 
out waiting even for a word of command, drew a bead upon 
the astonished Captain, and fired. But, equal to the emer- 
gency, he had grasped the situation, and had instantly, quick 
as thought, thrown himself flat in the gutter, by the side of 
the road. The ground descended slightly from where the 
rebels were to the place where the Captain was, and every 
shot of the volley, probably from more than a hundred 
muskets, passed over him, and lie escaped unharmed. 
Instantly, as soon as the volley was past, he threw himself 
into the brush and rapidly (without any doubt) joined his 
company. But the firing continued so brisk, that on his 



l()l) HISTORY OF THE 

return he found that Capt. Parkhurst, who was acting as his 
reserve, had ordered his men to Lie down. 

*• It w;is now near sunset, and the order had been received 
early in the day for the whole force to move to Windsor 
station. The execution of this order had been delayed till 
evening on account of the intensity of the heat. As the 
rebels had been effectually repulsed, this order was soon car- , 
ried into execution." 

BACK TO WINDSOR — COOKING RATIONS — THOSE HAMS. 

On the night of the skirmish, in accordance with the pre- 
vious plan and positive orders, the Union forces, the 
Eleventh in the rear, fell back several miles and bivouacked 
on our old camp-ground near Windsor, most of the men 
re-occupying the temporary shelters we had left. Some of 
these were quite extensive, where two or three tenants occu- 
pied them, and on the previous Thursday evening twenty-five 
or thirty persons gathered in one of them for a religious 
meeting. It was nothing new for soldiers to cook rations, 
but until this tramp the Eleventh did very little of it, and it 
was no small source of amusement to witness the various 
styles and devices of the men to make their rations palata- 
ble. The cooks of some of the companies were present, 
either a part or all of the time, and did some cooking even 
under those shifting circumstances. 

On the march back to Windsor we were not only almost 
smothered in dust, but our eyes were filled with smoke from 
the woods that were on lire on either side, nearly the whole 
route. Once in a while, the fire streaming now and then 
from the tall trees, seemed 

"Like banners in the sky," 

but the sight hardly paid for the price of the show. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 167 

While in camp at Windsor, Company G discovered a large 
lot of hams hid away near a house, and the woman who 
occupied the premises, went so far in her ignorance of their 
whereabouts, as to buy one from the "G's," who repaid 
her patronage, by soon after discovering a still larger lot in 
the loft. 

Barrett's plantation. 

We broke camp at Windsor at three o'clock Sunday after- 
noon. It was one of the hottest days the regiment experi- 
enced during its whole time of service. We marched three 
miles towards Suffolk on the road to Providence chapel, the 
intensest rays of the sun beating on our heads all the way, 
until we halted at Rev. Mills Barrett's plantation. Add to 
the heat the clouds of suffocating dust that enveloped us 
throughout the march, especially when a large body of 
cavalry passed us, and it was the most trying tramp we had 
made. W e believe this opinion was shared by a majority 
of the officers and men. No "weary traveler" ever 
" espied his home from some o'er-looking hill," with more 
satisfaction than the men of the Eleventh beheld the green 
lawn of this plantation, as they filed in and drank of the water 
from the old oaken bucket of the old-fashioned well, and 
bathed their heads with its deep stored waters. On our way 
we saw two or three neat-looking houses, fronting fine 
estates, and a waving field of wheat called forth the exclama- 
tions of the men. 

At Barrett's plantation we learned much that was new to 
us as a regiment, and to most of us as individuals. It 
opened to us a view of slavery that we had not seen before. 
A planter, a divine of the Baptist denomination, a son, 
chaplain in the rebel army, another at Norfolk, said to be 



168 HISTORY OF THE 

loyal, twenty-two slaves of all ages, and several shades of 
color, and an estate that comprised three hundred and six 
acres of land of all kinds, a large white house of no style of 
architecture (usual in the parts where we travelled), stand- 
ins f;>i' hack from the road, the smooth lawn in front and 
around the house, dotted here and there with shade and 
fruit-trees, and a well with a bucket balanced on the end of 
a long pole, with poorer houses on one side for negroes, and 
out-houses for various purposes. A big corn field, on which 
an average of five bushels to the acre only was raised, a 
cotton held on the left, an orchard with fine varieties of 
fruit, good stock, starvingly fed poultry, and magnificen! 
woods complete the picture of the surroundings. 

The owner of all this was rank secesh ; the housekeeper, 
Miss Mary, as bitter as wormwood; the darkies were 
Union, and fully believing that 

" It must be now the kingdom's coming, 
And the year of jubilee." 

Somebody in the house was sick when the regiment 
arrived there. 4 * Been sick a week, massa," said one of tin 1 
female, Union colored persons. "■Taken sick five minutes 
before the Union soldiers come here, to save the house from 
burning down," was added in an under tone. 

There was another, and no mean attraction, at that camp, 
the magnolia trees in the woods near us, with their lily-like 
blossoms, and their exquisite fragrance. Oceans of black- 
berry bushes, in full bloom, skirted the woods about. And 
wc remember now the huckleberry bushes on our inarch to 
the u Deserted House," which, with their beautiful white 
bell-like clusters, lined the roadside. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 169 

WHO WAS IN COMMAND? 

Gen. Corcoran and staff, Col. Church and staff, and 
many other officers, made Barrett's house, which was roomy, 
their headquarters. During this raid, for it amounted to 
that, it was difficult for most of us to tell who was in com- 
mand. Col. Foster, acting as brigadier, was in command 
several days, and then was taken sick. Gen. Corcoran, 
able then to absent himself from his court of inquiry, in 
reference to shooting Col. Kimball, came out and assumed 
command. Gen. Dodge arrived and had command of the 
artillery and cavalry, and in the skirmish on Saturday, it 
Mas said, directed operations. When in Suffolk, Ave were 
in (iem Terry's brigade, then in Col. Wardrop's, again in 
Col. Farrow's, and during the last two days, before reaching 
Suffolk, on our return to Camp Perry, in Col. Church's, he 
acting as brigadier, and Col. Wardrop commanding all the 
infantry force. Whoever was in command, we advanced, 
moved and fell back ; Gen. Corcoran's headquarters being 
most of the time at Windsor, and Gen. Dodge's at Antioch 
church, several miles nearer the Blackwater. 

WONDEE OF THE SLAVES AT THE MUSIC OK THE BAND. 

On the night that we halted at Barrett's, a great deal of 
amusement w T as created early in the evening by the actions 
of the slaves, old and young, while the band was playing 
some of their fine music. The older ones were pleased and 
astonished, while the little ones, from three years' old and 
upwards, were fairly frightened at the power of some of the 
instruments, especially of the big drum. They would steal 
up gradually, while some pleasing strain was played, and 
15 



170 HISTORY OF THE 

when a crashing passage burst forth, would skedaddle in the 
greatest terror. The youngsters gave an exhibition in 
dancing which created shouts of merriment, especially as 
the little sables, in neat, white dresses, flitted about in the 
dusk like so many witches. 

ORDERLY FORAGING. 

'•'Promiscuous foraging," says "J. B. G.," was iL strictly 
prohibited, as it is very demoralizing to the troops, but when 
conducted properly, there is no reason why we should not 
take articles belonging to the enemy." As an instance, we 
suppose, of what was proper, he adds: "We learned here, 
from a contraband, that a neighbor had concealed a quantity 
of corn in the woods, and a team, accompanied by Maj. 
Moss and others of the staff' of the Eleventh, with a guard, 
were dispatched to confiscate it. We found enough near a 
by-path about a mile distant, to till a large army wagon, 
and our horses have eaten it with all the composure with 
which they eat the forage which is bought and paid for." 
It is easy to see how much nearer right it was for staff 
officers with a guard to confiscate a lot ol corn, than it was 
for privates to capture tk a pig or pigs, hog or hogs," etc. ; 
or, for illustration, a story is told that Col. Church happened 
in the woods where some of the boys in Company K were 
dressing off a hog, and inquired of Sergt. Yiall : u Did you 
shoot that hog? ' : " No, sir," said the Sergeant. wC he ran 
upon my bayonet ; will you have a piece. Colonel? ' : Was 
that hog, and many other animals who died on this raid, 
eaten with the same composure by the officers and men. as 
if they had been bought and paid for? 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 171 

A GOVERNMENT TEAM BECOMES A CHARIOT OF FREEDOM. 

Among the slaves of Mills Barrett, was a Creole, whose 
husband was free in Suffolk, at work-in the; Union commis- 
sary department. In her youthful days she was fair, and 
she had, among her seven children, which we saw, four 
which were said to be the children of her master's brother's 
son. The two kinds of children were easily distinguished. 
They dwelt in an older mansion near by, and the writer was 
permitted to view the premises. There was the monstrous 
fire-place of the olden time, an old-fashioned bake-pan, a 
loom in one corner on which they wove a very coarse and 
stout cotton cloth, from cotton grown on the estate, and a 
long chest full of fine dresses, made by the eldest daughter 
for her missus. This all told of a decaying aristocracy. 

Monday afternoon, this whole family were carted off to 
leave a heap of trouble on the mind of old Seeesh. Some 
were shocked that they should want to, and did, thus leave 
the old man, but the majority were well pleased witli the 
transaction. AVe will quote from "J. B. G." again : "One 
woman with seven children were anxious to proceed to Suf- 
folk to join her husband, . . and our Adjutant made an 
arrangement to take them and their worldly goods to town. 
After dinner the team drove up, and a very few minutes were 
sufficient to hurry beds, boxes, crockery, darkies and all, 
into the wagon, and they moved off while three rousing 
cheers were given by the regiment. The old man and his 
housekeeper stood in the door of their house, and saw them 
as they turned their backs forever without a tear of regret, 
upon the family, giving a practical comment to the idea that 
slaves will never leave their masters." This family pro- 
ceeded on their freedom trip some distance towards Suffolk, 
when Col. Wardrop, learning what- had been done, proceeded 



172 HISTORY OF THE 

after them in great anger, and ordered the government team 
to return to Barrett's ; but to the best of our knowledge, 
our Adjutant's executive ability was equal to the Colonel's 
wrath. The team went back, per order, but the family 
found a hiding place near by, and at night proceeded in 
safety on their way to Suffolk. 

One or two of the planter's boys went into the employ of 
our officers as servants, and when the Union soldiers finally 
moved off, Mills Barrett's personal property amounted to 
twenty-two servants, minus about twenty who u went and 
run'd away." 

"J. B. G." writes further: "When we leave, as we 
shall do to-day, there will be several tenements to let on 
this and other plantations, as the remainder of the slaves 
are intending to form an escort for the regiment. The news 
of our coming is spreading all around, and we have already 
heard of twenty or more from other families who propose to 
make a march for liberty. There is no murmuring among 
the people, as they seem to expect such things, and are eon- 
tent to submit and furnish provision if we need, if we will 
only leave them behind and not burn their houses." 

END OF THE RAID. 

The end of our journeyings drew near, for Tuesday, the 
26th instant, after much delay, and much mystery as to 
where we weie bound, we took up our line of march in the 
middle of the afternoon, and after a brisk tramp of about 
four hours in a Virginia fence course, halted, with the 
exception of two companies, who were ordered on picket, 
several miles outside of Suffolk, and encamped, as was sup- 
posed, for the night, but about ten o'clock pickets were 
called in, all were aroused, and at half an hour after mid- 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 173 

night we were joyfully received by the comrades who had 
renamed behind in Camp Perry. 

Lieut. Snow, in our absence, was installed in the Col- 
onel's quarters as commandant of camp — like one of old, 
supreme for a day — with an orderly to' run here and there 
and do his bidding, and every soldier able to do anything 
was kept thoroughly busy in one kind of duty or another. 

RESULT. 

The result of this expedition was, some eighty miles of 
railroad track on two roads torn up and stored in a place of 
safety, worth to the government one hundred thousand dol- 
lars, making it very difficult for the enemy to bring supplies 
for a large force to besiege Suffolk, and rendering it easy for 
a small number of troops to hold the place. About twenty- 
five deserted dwellings and seventy-five other buildings were 
burned, and quite an amount of forage secured. According 
to the best reports, two of the enemy were killed and six 
wounded, a number of prisoners were captured, fifty more 
came away, and others continued to come in. About two 
hundred slaves entered our lines, upon whom the enemy 
depended to furnish them with supplies the next fall. We 
met with no loss on our side, except a Michigan Captain, 
who, recklessly, as we believe, exposed himself to the fire 
of his own men. 

As to the part that the Eleventh bore," it is enough to say 
that they were out eleven days without tents of any kind, 
tramped about forty miles, and did promptly and well what- 
ever they were ordered to do. Only on one day and night 
did we have unpleasant weather. 



174 HISTORY OF THE 

SOME OTHER THINGS THAT WE OBSERVED. 

The day after our return to Camp Perry was spent in a 
general cleaning up of persons, clothes and equipments, and 
a return to the usual routine of camp life. 

Our Colonel and Major, with Lieut. James, of the 
Engineer Corps, Sergt. Viall, of Company K, a corporal 
and eight men of the Eleventh, paid a visit to the Jericho 
canal, running from the Nansemond river to Drummond lake, 
to ascertain the condition of the canal. On the 30th instant. 
we had some fine .showers, and the first considerable rain 
for about three weeks. 

There was one feature during our raid into the enemy's 
country, which somewhat surprised us — the large amount of 
cultivated land. What the proportion was before the war 
we could not tell, but Ave returned to Suffolk by roads on 
which were the fewest dwellings, and saw a great many 
acres regularly cultivated, with evident care, corn predomi- 
nating. It was equally true that hardly a man was seen, 
and such as we saw, appeared very old. There was one 
house just outside of our pickets, when we were nearest 
Zuni, which contained two families, and in one of them a 
young woman, eighteen years old, so said her mother, who 
worked regularly in the field. The other family consisted 
of a widow and her little boy, whose husband, she said, 
died before the war. u He had been a house carpen- 
ter, and had built the hight of the houses in Windsor." 
She said it cost them three dollars a day to get plowing 
done, and she represented their destitution in a pitiful light. 
One of our captains on picket near by wanted to wash, and 
asked the other family for some soap. Some black, soft 
soap was produced, and, finally, as a special accommodation, 
an old chest was overhauled and a small piece of hard 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 175 

soap, nicely wrapped up in a cloth, was brought to light : 
bul so apparent was it that this could hardly be spared, that 
the officer refused it and used the other. 

These people would gladly have picked up the hard-tack 
that we left on the field when we moved, and the soap that 
we threw away would have been a treasure. The officer 
to whom we have just referred, had a hoe-cake baked and 
paid for it twenty-five cents of our money ; but the woman 
said she would rather have a pinch of salt — another article 
that was a drug in our camp on that march — than the money. 
These were but isolated specimens of the condition of 
things wherever we went, and the absence of nearly, if not 
quite all, the negroes in that region, could not fail to make 
the destitution still greater. 

ROUTINE ATTENDANCE AT THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

DRESS-PARADE. 

The regiment were constantly employed in picket, guard 
and fatigue duty, battery support at night, and battalion drill 
was added in the middle of the afternoon. Another inspec- 
tion came on the last day of the month, but it was done up 
in good style, and was far less tedious than in our earlier 
experiences. In the afternoon, however, some thirty or 
forty comrades were permitted to attend service at an Epis- 
copal Church in town, and listen to an excellent discourse 
from the Chaplain of the One Hundred and Sixtieth Penn- 
sylvania, from Romans 3d chapter and 20th verse. 

There is a propriety in alluding to our dress-parades in 
this latter part of our service. Col. Church had an eye for 
dress-parades, and being a civil engineer, evidently knew a 
straight line. We thought we had fine dress-parades on 
Miner's Hill, but Col. Church made up his mind to put on 



17() HISTORY OF THE 

the finishing touches. The Lieutenant Colonel or Major 
usually conducted the dress-parades, while the Colonel made 
observations on the flanks, and sometimes in the rear rank. 
On the Sunday just referred to we supposed we had had a 
fine display of that sort, and the usual religious service after 
it, when, lo ! an order came, and two more dress-parades 
followed, the second lasting until the sun dipped beneath 
the horizon. When the lines in open order were formed 
according to Col. Church's ideas, a person standing on the 
flank could see but four men, instead of six or seven hun- 
dred ; the officers and men stood like so many statues, the 
mosquitoes, flies, Avood-ticks and other small blood-suckers 
had free scope for nearly half an hour, and tobacco chewing 
and spitting were done away. A day or two after this, when 
we were off on battalion drill, the Colonel formed us into a 
square, and "Now," said he, "I have you where you can 
hear me, audi want to say a few words about dress-parade." 
Well, we did not take notes ; it was a good speech of the 
kind, however. 

Again, to our surprise, on the 5th of June, the ever-wel- 
come paymaster appeared, the pay-roll was signed and the 
regiment paid. The Allotment Commissioner followed on 
the next day to take home just as much as the boys chose 
to send to their families and friends. 

GEN. TERRY — GREAT SERVICE IN THE METHODIST CHURCH. 

One day then was much like another. There were fair 
skies, pleasant breezes and a burning sun. On the night of 
the 6th of June, we had one of those tremendous showers, 
accompanied by the grandest thunder and vivid lightning, 
such as we had heard only in that southern country. The 
thunder on that night resembled a rapid and regular can- 
nonade. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 177 

When Sunday morning came we had our usual inspection 
varied by the presence of Gen. Terry. He was a man of no 

little weight, with a pleasant countenance, round head, care- 
fully trained moustache, and faultless attire. His criticisms 
and commendations were freely bestowed. His manner was 
agreeable. He had ideas and opinions of his own, which he 
took no pains to conceal. The regiment received a due 
share of praise from his lips, and on the whole we were not 
sorry that he made us a visit. 

Immediately after the inspection, by the Colonel's permis- 
sion, quite a large delegation from the regiment, proceeded 
to the Methodist Church in Suffolk, and joined in public 
worship there. The house, including galleries, was filled 
with soldiers from the various regiments of the Suffolk army, 
and many stood. Three chaplains were present. The ser- 
mon was by the Chaplain of the One Hundred and Eigh- 
teenth New York, from Ephesians, 3d chapter and 15th 
verse. The whole congregation united in song. Col. 
Church, Lieut. -Col. Pitman, and Maj. Moss, from the 
Eleventh were present. After the regular service about two 
hundred remained to partake of the communion, adminis- 
tered to Christians of various denominations in the Metho- 
dist form, by the chaplains before mentioned, our own being 
of the number. This setting aside of all minor differences 
and blending many hearts in a testimony of fealty to the 
Captain of our Salvation, was a most interesting scene. 
Around a common altar met officers and privates of all 
arms of the service, from Eastern, Western and Middle 
States — brethren. Who would not rejoice that there were 
so many men in our army that daily offered their morning 
and evening sacrifice to Jehovah, that He might go forth 
with our armies and cause them to triumph. 



1 78 HISTORY OF THE 

CONTRABAND SERVICE. 

In the afternoon of the same day, some twenty-five of us 
walked oxer to Uniontown, not far from our camp, on the 
banks of the river, entered the large chapel of the contra- 
bands and remained standing, while they carried on their 
worship, for more than an hour and a half. The building 
was crowded with colored people of all ages and shades. 
There were old and gray-haired men and women, number- 
less children, and infants at the breast, all engaged in wor- 
ship with the utmost intensity and earnestness. 

The dresses were in the most wonderful and fantastic 
variety ; the manifestations unsuited to any other place. 
The singing defied all description. If we should attempt a 
description of what we saw we should he open to the charge 
of fun-making; yet it was one of the most serious and 
affecting; religious assemblies the writer ever attended. 
They sang frequently, the melodies set to the most singular 
words. Some of the tunes were lively and adapted to 
dancing, but most of them were xwy plaintive in their 
character. The Jubilee singers have given us the only 
Specimens of the peculiar music of these ex-slaves and their 
plantation melodies. The choruses were powerful and 
moving. An exhortation of an elderly gray-haired brother 
was full of pith and point, and would not disgrace a better 
educated mind. It was a regular plantation conference and 
prayer meeting, to he enjoyed only south of Mason and 
Dixon's line. 

\XoTJN.i; SHAMPAIGN. 

We had a grand expedition one day on fatigue duty in 
which one-half of the regiment went out. as in the early 
part of our service, to level the woods about two miles off. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 179 

iii the range of the batteries on the Nansemond, and the other 
half to work on Fort Mansfield, near our camp, returning in 
the evening. Then came an order to move in light march- 
ino- order, each man to burden himself with one hundred 
rounds of cartridges. We left camp at one o'clock, marched 
out about a mile, rested, countermarched and returned to 
camp at half-past two, an 1 thus en lei, as the boys expressed 
it, another shampaign. 

SECOND RAID TO THE BLACKWATER. 

We were ordered to march and to take with us three days' 
cooked rations and sixty-five rounds of cartridges,* the 
next morning. At ten o'clock we marched from camp to 
the rendezvous at the outermost signal station, where we 
joined a force which included fifteen regiments of infantry, 
three batteries, and Spear's Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry. 
waiting for the order to move. In half an hour the column 
started on the South Quay (or Somerton) road, Terry's 
Brigade, the One Hundred and Thirtieth New York ahead, 
and the Rhode Island Eleventh second on the right. We 
halted about one o'clock for dinner. In mid-afternoon light 
refreshing showers laid the dust, and we had a comparatively 
cool time through the night. We camped near where a 
road turns off to Somerton, sixteen miles from Suffolk. 

We moved Saturday morning at six o'clock for the Black- 
water river, and about ten o'clock the Eleventh filed into, 
and formed a line of battle in, an opening in the woods a 
mile and a half from the river, as a support to Battery D, 
Fourth United States Artillery. Company B was thrown 
out for a short time as skirmishers, re-called, and in about 

* Thirty-rive less than on the previous day, when we were expected to move 
on another expedition. 



180 HISTORY OF THE 

an hour we moved on to South Quay, five miles from our 
starting point in the morning, again formed near the woods 
while the One Hundred and Thirtieth New York went in as 
skirmishers, driving the enemy from their rifle-pits across 
the river, and the battery, supported by our regiment, shelled 
the town on the opposite side, getting no reply after an 
hour's cannonade, though a few of the One Hundred and 
Thirtieth were slightly wounded by the rebel sharp-shooters. 
Whether we inflicted any loss on the enemy we could not 
learn. We set fire to six or eight buildings and moved 
thence to Carsville, twelve miles, which we reached about 
nine o'clock in the evening, and bivouacked for the night. 

As usual, Ave did our hardest day's work Sunday. We 
were aroused about three o'clock in the morning, made our 
coffee and started about half-past five o'clock for Franklin, 
on the other side of the Black water, where the Seaboard 
and Roanoke Railroad crosses the river, and arrived there 
about nine o'clock, where we formed in line of battle, and 
the One Hundred and Thirtieth New York deployed as 
skirmishers. About eleven o'clock the Fourth Delaware 
battery opened fire on the heavy rebel breastworks on both 
sides of the river, about a mile to the front, shelling the 
place also, for about an hour. The Pennsylvania cavalry 
made a spirited charge through the town on our side and 
down to the river. It was an exciting time. Several men 
were wounded by the rebel sharp-shooters. About two 
o'clock we started on the Windsor road for Anderson's Cor- 
ners, which we reached about nine o'clock in the evening, 
and remained there for the night. 

This was a raid for forage and damage to the rebels ; all 
decent horses and mules were taken under our protection. 
By permission of the authorities, our men helped themselves 
to many useful articles. Hens died of exposure 1 , honey 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 181 

proved as sweet as ever, and bee stings were as sharp as 
usual. At one place the boys had a sharp skirmish with 
the bees, and a secesh woman, who did not like to lose her 
hens, eggs, etc., pitched into them quite handsomely. 

We marched Monday morning to Zuni, or Blaekwater 
Bridge, passed oar old skirmish ground, near Antioch 
Church, shelled the rebels at mid-day on the opposite side of 
the stream, for a short time receiving no response, and were 
sent into a corn-field, where the sun almost burnt us up. 
Company B were sent into the woods as skirmishers, and 
after shelling the rebels once more, our forces marched back 
ao-ain to Anderson's Corners, which we reached about half- 
past five o'clock, pretty well tired out and expecting to camp 
there for the night. Coffee was made and rations were 
eaten, when the word went round that we should make 
another march that night. Soon we were ordered to fall in, 
and we waited in line until half-past nine o'clock. Within 
this two or three hours of waiting, came one of those pleas- 
ant reliefs which whiled away the time and inspirited the 
men of the Eleventh for the march before them. A song 
was started in one of the companies of the Eleventh, then 
another, then a chorus. The One Hundred and Thirtieth 
New York, our neighbors in line, responded, and again 
were urged to respond, and such songs as " We've a mil- 
lion in the field," "When this cruel war is over," and 
"John Brown," rung out upon the still night air, and the 
comrades forgot their Weariness and tramped off seven or more 
miles to Carsville, reaching it about one o'clock in the 
morning, sleeping soundly on our corn-field bed and rising 
with the lark. 

We moved off again between nine and ten o'clock for 
Franklin. After a march of about five miles to the Black- 
water, we halted about twelve o'clock, rested and then 
16 



182 HISTORY OF THE 

moved on to Franklin, reached an agreeable position in the 
edge <>{' some woods, where we were strictly ordered to keep 
in position jiikI be ready. A fighl was maintained in front 
of the woods, and sharp skirmishing all the afternoon. A 
small infantry force drove the rebel pickets in.* A captain 
of the Ninety-ninth New York was mortally wounded, and 
a number of privates were either killed or wounded. Here 
we remained through tlie night and had rations of fresh 
beef, for the men of the different regiments had killed some 
ten or twelve cows, and hogs and shqats shared a similar 
late. Our position during this day was a comfortable one ; 
we could enjoy the shade when we pleased, and were near a. 
large swampy pond of water, which proved very agreeable. 

We moved the next day to the support of Battery D, 
United States Artillery, and remained all day under the 
intense rays of a burning sun. Lively skirmishing was kept 
up all day. It was estimated that on this and the previous 
dav the loss on our side was fifteen killed and wounded. 
Many houses were burned with our shells. Three compa- 
nies of the Eleventh were ordered on picket, which duty 
was performed each night we were out. At night we made 
alive mile march to Carsville once more, arriving there 
between nine and ten o'clock. 

We were aroused very early Thursday morning and moved 
;it quarter-pasl four o'clock to the Deserted House, eight 

miles, on empty stomachs, over two hours without a single 
halt. We stepped an hour, ate our breakfast, bathed as we 
could in the brook, and started for Suffolk, nine miles distant, 
which was reached between one and two o'clock. The sun 
was fiercely hot, the men were pressed to thi' utmost, and 
several hundred gave out by the way, notwithstanding an 
order from the commander that any who fell out from any 

* Sharp-shooters across the river. 



ELK \ E NTH B E GIM E N T . 1 * 3 

fans*' but sickness, would be taken up by the provost guard, 
-••nt to Suffolk, and tried by a court martial. Luckily there 
was no guard-house or jail in town to hold them. During 
this march we saw the first school-house we had observed 
during our campaign in Virginia, south of Washington. 

REFLE< TIONS. 

"A. D. N." thus writes of* tin'.- march: "It was a 
series of marches and counter-marches under a scorching 

heat, the most severe the regiment had made on account of 
the extreme heat and dust. Many of the men returned to 
the camp in advance of the regiment, either foot-son: or 
otherwise disabled. When the regiment arrived at Camp 
Perry, at noon. .June 18th, most of the men were foot-sore 
and jaded out. though otherwise in good spirits. A few 
suffered from >un-stroke." 

We add further, that while Gen. Corcoran was in com- 
mand, most of the marching was begun and continued in 
very quick time in the hottest part of the day. The curses 
of men and officers in the various regiment* lighted upon his 
head. It was without judgment, inhuman and brutal to use 
Union soldiers in the style he used them. Old soldiers who 
had passed through all that soldiers ought to endure, declared 
that they had never experienced such .marching. 

The same may he said of the last day'.- march under Col. 
Foster. Some of the companies in some of the regiments 
had hut five men on reaching Suffolk. The Eleventh came 
off a.- well, perhaps better, than any regiment but the One 
Hundred and Thirtieth New York, who prided themselves 
on their marching, and had been specially drilled to it. Heat 
and dust combined to iiiak<- the ordeal a severe one. 

In strong contrast with all this, was the conduct of Col. 



184 HISTORY OF THE 

Church, his staff and our line officers. The staff* officers 
frequently dismounted and permitted officers and men to 
take their places. They carried guns and equipments, and 
did all in their power for the comfort of their commands, 
and so of the line officers. Our Colonel won the special 
good-will of the men by his sympathy and kindness during 
this march. We believed that had he been in command 
and arranged the time of marching, comparatively few 
would have fallen out. 

Thus ended the second effort of the Eleventh to get. at 
the enemy after the enemy had been compelled to abandon 
their attempt upon Suffolk. A favoring Providence saved 
the regiment from the loss of a man. Picket duty on this 
raid was no farce, and in their skirmishes with the enemy 
they were as much exposed to danger as those regiments 
that lost members in killed and wounded. They were 
always prompt to move ; they occupied an honorable posi- 
tion in a force of veteran infantry, and they endured the 
hardships of the service with the fortitude of soldiers of 
larger experience in the field of conflict. 

Our regiment had been at the front a little more than two 
months. They performed every duty and obeyed every order 
to the satisfaction of the generals commanding. Our Col- 
onel claimed that his regiment would get into line quicker 
than any other regiment. If ewvy man escaped the bullets 
of the enemy, it was the fault of the rebels. The men 
were received by the comrades in camp with the heartiest 
welcome and an exhibition of the most generous hospitality 
that a " soldier's fare " could afford. 

A WAV FOR VOKKTOWN. 

Rumors that we must make preparation for another march 
were circulated almost as soon as we returned to Camp 



ELEVENTH BEGIMENT. 185 

Peny. Rumors that Suffolk was to be abandoned were also 
rife. But we were not long left in suspense, for on the very 
next dav we rose at early dawn, put ourselves in the best 
trim possible, partook of our morning m >al of salt-junk, 
hard-tack and coffee, bid farewell to Camp Perry without 
much murmuring, marched to the railroad depot in Suffolk, 
waited at mid-day for a fine shower to lay the dust on tin- 
road, and for further orders to move, and at half-past two 
took the cars for Norfolk, when; we arrived at four o'clock. 
Transports were at the wharf with steam up ; we marched 
on board the "Maple Leaf," one of the largest, unloaded 
our knapsacks, and at six o'clock started for Ybrktown. 
We steamed past Fortress Monroe and up the bay till 
shrouded in darkness, and then on — stopping only one hour 
in the night — till daylight on the morning of the 20th. 
We made a run of seventy or eighty miles during the night. 
A few comrades enjoyed the luxury of sleeping on the hurri- 
cane deck and breathing the pure air of heaven on a warm 
summer night. We disembarked early, and, in due time, 
with music sounding and colors flying, marched through the 
streets of dirty, Straggling, dilapidated Yorktown. 

On the opposite shore was Gloucester. All about as were 
the old fortifications of the rebels, and the remains of the 
more ancient ones of Revolutionary day-. We were doubt- 
less in the field and near by the tree, where, tradition says, 
Cornwallis delivered up his sword to Washington, or rather 
to Lincoln, to whom Washington, for good reasons, required 
that Cornwallis should surrender. 

GAMP AT YOKKToWX. 

We at once moved to a pleasant location near by sprii 
of excellent water, not far from York river, and near a fine 



186 HISTORY OF THE 

long beach overhung by a high, romantic bluff. On the left 
and northward, on the opposite shore, was Gloucester Point, 
with its camps and dwellings, stretching out to meet the 
bluff on this side, while the many and various crafts in view 
added to the picturesqueness of the effect. Here, for a 
while, the boys had glorious times in salt water bathing, 
and, in the language of another, "All Saturday and Sunday, 
York river was kept in lively commotion by Rhode Islanders. " 

On our camp-ground was the celebrated tree in which the 
rebel darkey sharp-shooter was shot by "California Joe." 
It then lay on its side, twenty-one feet in circumference and 
hollow, and was used by our regiment for a guard-house. 

The Twenty-second Connecticut, our old neighbors on 
Miner's Hill, were camped near us awaiting transportation 
home. In the evening before we left, the officers of that 
regiment invited the officers of the Eleventh to enjoy a part- 
ing social entertainment. They accepted, and, in spite of a 
drenching rain, came back well pleased with their reception. 

THE MARCH FOR WILLIAMSBURG. 

Our last brigade inspection was on Sunday, the 21st. 
The morning was pleasant ; night brought thunder and rain. 
This made mud on the roads for the next day, but also saved 
us from the dust. So, on Monday morning, in light march- 
ing order, required, without rhyme or reason, to take one 
hundred rounds of cartridges upon our persons, we started 
for the forts near Williamsburg. The route of about twelve 
miles was through a pleasant country, more undulating than 
around the Blackwater, and instead of sand ankle deep, we 
moved on a hard road with a "right smart" sprinkling of 
mud and water. A slight mist enshrouded the sun and tem- 
pered the heat of this longest day in summer. Judgment 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 187 

coupled with mercy made this march, from ten o'clock in the 
morning till five in the afternoon, a mere excursion, com- 
pared with our race to the Blackwater. We had nearly or 
quite three hours of halting, including that for dinner, in 
cool and shady places. We moved with the brigade, which 
included, with the Eleventh, five regiments, the One Hundred 
and Thirtieth New York, One Hundred and Fifty-second 
New York, One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania, 
Twenty-sixth Michigan, and a battalion of sharp-shooters. 

Soon after our halt, at five o'clock p. m., an order came 
for the rest of the brigade to move on twelve miles further, 
while we were to report to Col. West, at Fort Magruder. 
Our brass band accompanied the brigade a mile or more in 
the direction of Williamsburg, Col. Church and staff" riding 
at the head of the column with Col. Gibbs and staff, of the 
One Hundred and Thirtieth New York. In due time they 
halted and the officers bade good-bye to the various regi- 
ments. As they marched past they gave the Eleventh and 
their band three cheers, and moved on, as we then thought, 
to Richmond. 

Night found the various companies of the regiment dis- 
tributed in the many forts in that locality — well built and 
designed to resist the march of McClellan to Richmond. 
Previous to our occupancy, the One Hundred and Thirty- 
ninth New York were stationed in these forts. They joined 
the force that was then moving up the Peninsula. Compa- 
nies A and D occupied Fort Magruder, Company B occupied 
the camp of the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth New York, 
where also our Colonel and staff made their headquarters. 
Companies F and K occupied redoubts still further to the 
left. The other companies were posted in the redoubts to 
the right of Fort Magruder and near to Williamsburg. 



188 HISTORY OF THE 

Near by were the "battle-fields where Hooker and 
Heintzleman fought the rebels the summer previous. There 
were many graves and other evidences of a severe contest. 
The ground was thickly strewn with cartridge boxes, belts, 
etc., perforated with bullets. " 

There was abundant opportunity, diligently improved, 
for the regiment to recruit the health and strength lost in 
the Blackwater march. The duty in the fort and redoubts 
was light. It consisted of guard duty and some drilling- in 
the manual. There was an abundance of early fruit, and 
the men made the most of their isolated position to supply 
the natural cravings of the inner man with things so juicy. 

"homeward bound." 

As the last day of our term of service, according to our 
muster roll, drew nigh, the men grew more anxious, pricked 
up their ears to every sight and sign that gave hope of relief 
from duty in the foils, and awaited impatiently the order to 
march to Yorktown and take the transport for Rhode Island. 
There were discussions and misgivings, but early in tin; 
evening, the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth New York came 
to relieve us, and at about nine o'clock the various compa- 
nies began to move under orders, to the place of rendezvous. 
Strength was renewed, steps light, faces short, words of 
cheer were spoken, and, at last, about half-past ten o'clock, 
the column moved towards Yorktown, inspirited for a while 
by music from the band, and favored by the most glorious 
moonlight. 

We entered Yorktown to the music of the band about 
four o'clock in the morning of the 1st of July, had a merry 
greeting from those who had remained behind, took some 
refreshment, and as many as chose sought sleep. The day 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 189 

was spent in putting guns and equipments in order for the 
homeward voyage. 

ANOTHER DEATH WAITING FOR THE FINAL ORDER. 

One more man was called to his long home just as lie 
could almost see the "promised land." William B. Clark, 
a member of Company I. and a leading musician of the 
brass band, died at Suffolk of typhoid fever, while the com- 
pany were at Williamsburg. On account of the position he 
held, hi.- death was a serious loss to the regiment, while 
Company I mourned the only loss of a comrade, either by 
disease or any cause, at a time when their separation from him 
prevented their paying the last honors to Ins memory. They 
hoped that he went to that "better land" where his warfare 
is forever ended, where the '"inhabitant shall never say 'I 
am sick.'" when- ,fc all is happiness and all is peace." 

On our arrival at Yorktown, the propeller transport. 
••John Rice." was at the wharf to take us home; but to 
our disappointment, an accident to her machinery obliged 
her to go to Norfolk for repairs, and. although the Colonel 
made repeated efforts to procure other and speedier transpor- 
tation, we were compelled to await her return before we 
could proceed on our way to our ''Land of Promise." 

The Duke of Wellington is said to have remarked that 
"two-thirds of a soldier's life is made up of waiting." Our 
waiting, however, at that time, was improved by the men 
in the most satisfactory way. Bathing was at a premium. 
Oysters were bought at a reasonable price. Blaekberri<- 
could be had in abundance for the picking, and some of the 
latter were of the largest dimensions ; contrabands brought 
cherries, pies, biscuit, and other fixings. Sutler.- were as 
ready to shave as ever, and they were on hand to accommo- 
date the soldiers. 



L90 HISTORY OF THE 

Among the last things to be recorded, we name the enter- 
tainment of the band, which had previously serenaded him 
at Williamsburg, by Lieut. Henri. E. Bacon, of Company 
P, who. for some time previous, had been acting as Division 
Commissary. Music and mirth were the prominent features 
of the occasion. A large number of officers were also 
present. 

NEAREST TO RICHMOND. 

"Twelve men of Company B, under command of* Sergt. 
John R. Anderson, made an excursion to the ' White House '" 
on the dames river, last week ; having been nearer to Rich- 
mond than any other portion of the regiment. They were 
detailed on Friday night as rear guard to a forage train, 
bound nine miles out from Williamsburg, but their journey 
was prolonged until they unexpectedly found themselves at 
the White House landing. They took transportation from 
that place to Yorktown, where they arrived Sunday night. 
They represent that they were amply repaid for their trip, 
by the sights which they saw on the Peninsula.*" 

ON DUTY AFTER DATE. 

The men became somewhat uneasy and discontented 
because of the strict cam)) guard and company and battalion 
drill which the Colonel ordered on the second day after our 
return to Yorktown. ami continued till the day of our depart- 
ure. They believed that their time had fully expired, and 
having, perhaps, too much of the independence of Yankees, 
and too keen a sense of justice, would have more cheerfully 
drilled upon a, request than upon orders, which they felt 
compelled to obey. The camp guard would have been more 



ELEVENTH EEGIMENT. 1H1 

effective a month previous. A few men went so far as to 
refuse to drill, and were made the subjects of a severe order 
at our last dress-parade, which was afterwards revoked, as 
many of us believed it would be. 

for "home, sweet home." 

But "all's well that ends well/' and Thursday. July 2d, 
the time of our redemption evidently drew nigh. Suddenly, 
just at candle-light, came the order to pack up, strike tents 
and be ready to start for Rhode Island. Then there was a 
merry time. Bonfires were lighted and the work of mak- 
ing ready was speedily done. The music of the band 
sounded out "Home, Sweet Home," for the first time in 
nine long months. We waited till near midnight and then 
tunned in line, knapsacks strapped upon our backs, and 
marched to the steamer's wharf at Yorktown. The bag- 
gage and sick men were first conveyed to the vessel, but 
owing to a scarcity of teams it took a long time to load up the 
quartermaster's stores, and we were ordered to stack aims 
and lie down upon the wharf and beach, and make ourselves 
comfortable until further orders. We -lept on the soft sand, 
with only the sky and stars above us once more, until a 
flood of golden light, streaming across the water, warned us 
of sunrise. Soon after, we filed on board the steamer with 
two days' extra rations, which we were ordered to take, and 
nowhere to stow them. Many a man walked on board the 
vessel with a loaf of bread under each arm. as Franklin, a 
hundred years before, walked the streets of Philadelphia. 

THE STOWAGE OF THE "JOHN RICE." 

At half-past six o'clock, we were fairly under way : 
crowded into a propeller which had sometimes been more 



102 HISTORY OF THE 

crowded, and on we sailed oul of Chesapeake bay in a few 
hours, past Capes Charles and Henry, and up the Maryland 
shore, till darkness and fatigue forced us to try to sleep. 
Two companies occupied the hold, to be relieved once in 
eight hours — a place with no pure air and no light, except 
what stole in ; three companies were 'midships — a little bet- 
ter; the other companies were disposed on deck, all to take 
their tnri) in due time in the hold. A small regiment of 
dogs, pets of men and officers, (lid not help matters, but fur- 
nished many ludicrous as well as annoying scenes. There 
was no small slock of servants on board, increasing the dis- 
comfort. So, when sleeping time came, thirteen inches by 
six feet was a Large allowance for any man, and wry many 
did not have that, We must not forget the horses, next to 
the heels of which quite a number gladly made their beds. 
Any dirty hovel in our native State, and many a stable, was 
cleaner than where we slept. We were soldiers, however, 
and had been accustomed to lie down on the roadside under 
a heavy dew and take a snooze, and wei'e not to be fright- 
ened by such accommodation ; besides, we were bound for 
home, where we should soon be able to sing, 

" Whei) the shore is won ;it last, 
Who will count the billows past?" 

\ SAD EVENT, 

One event, sadder than that recently recounted, occurred 
on the afternoon of our first day's sail. Comrade Frank 
Bliss, of Company B, who went on board very sick, died. 
It was understood that there was no hope of his recovery, 
and that it would be a consolation to his friends to take his 
remains home, that his dust might not be buried anions: 
strangers, and remain there for months. Just previous to 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 193 

our leaving, he was confined for several days in the Nelson 

Hospital in Yorktown. He was - n of the late Capt. 

Albert Bli-- wtucket, and was a young man of fine 

qualities. 

TIIK "glorious fourth. " 

On the Uh of July — - . day to us — we 

still favored with fair weather. "The steamer was gaily 

•rated with flags : the band played national airs, and 

r upon cheer was given by the men for the 'old f a 

A- the hours sped on we passed point after point, familiar. 

and about five o'clock p. m., entered tie- Narrows and 

med directly np to the great city of -Gotham.' Soon 

after we passed the • Highlands.' we began to meet various 

m and sail craft that gave us cheers ol welcome, to which 

we heartily responded. The people on the shore -waved 

their hat- and kerchiefs, and as approached the city it 

was .tinned cheer, and response from the -- - 

the harbor and the people on the land. The multitudes of 

flag?- on the .-hipping, the tiring of sal " -. ud the unce -- 

ing popping made it plain that it was •• Independence Day." 

Thirty-six hours from Yorktown. about half-past six, we 

cast anchor. The Colonel went ashore and i. and. 

to our disappointment, we learned in an hour or two that 

we must remain in those cramped quarters another night 

and start for Providence in the morning. We hoped that 

we should have been transferred to one of our I _ S »und 

uers 1 have a bit of room to stir round, but there 

was no alternative. 

Tiie day was made doubly glorious by the news that 

flashed over the wire.-, electrifying the nation, of the victory 

at Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg, the k - - of 

triumph to the loyal north, the death knell of the slave-hold- 

17 



194 HISTORY OF THE 

ing Confederacy in the south. The cloud of gloom that 
enveloped the laud when we lefl our homes, thinned slightly 
at the issue of the emancipation proclamation after the bat- 
tle of Antietam, was plainly dissipating, and the rift in the 
clouds and the gleams of sunshine were clearly seen. 
There were battles yet to be fought. A eordon of lire must 
encompass the South. The death struggle was yet to come. 
But the God of battles had decreed the doom of slavery, 
the deliverance of four millions of bondmen, and the tri- 
umph of free institutions. We could have reached home in 
no better hour. 

We remained in New York harbor all night. "Andsuch 
<i night, language is'too feeble for a. description. The eight 
hundred or more men on board the "John Rice' will ever 
remember it. Soldiers, contrabands, horses, dogs, cats, 
etc., all mingled together, trying — that is all, only trying — to 
sleep." We have given the language of "A. I). N.," and 
the comrades will perceive that it is not overdrawn. 

We were up bright and early Sunday morning, and 
waited anxiously for "something to turn up." Some of 
the men jumped into the boats that came along-side and 
went ashore without leave. A number of the officers also 
went ashore, and some twenty or thirty men were detailed 
to land and purchase articles for the men of the various 
companies ; but the pilots that were to take us through the 
"Gate " and the Sound came aboard, and just as our detailed 
men started lor the steamer, the "tide could wait for no 
man," and we were compelled to leave them behind. 

We had a tine passage through the East river. "We 
were continually saluted by passing steamers, and cheers 
were given and handkerchiefs waved by the passengers 
thereon." Rain set in and it fell moderately for several 
hours, thoueh at noon there were indications that it would 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 195 

soon be clear ; but we had showers at intervals far into the 
night, some of them quite brisk. At ten o'clock it slackened 
up and we were lost in a fog - . ik The Sound all this time 
was as calm as a mill-pond, which was much to our comfort 
and convenience." We anchored for the night at the mouth 
of the Thames river. Connecticut. 

Sunrise Monday morning revealed our position to be off 
Plumb island. We groaned inwardly, but were unable to 
start until after five o'clock. After cruising about for an 
hour we found ourselves headed for Point Judith, which we 
made about ten o'clock. We soon had a sight of Newport, 
and realized that we were Hearing home. "The sun shone 
brightly, and we had a very agreeable sail up Narragansett 
bay. arriving at Pox Point. Providence, at two o'clock, 
which city we left just nine months previous, to a day." 

How we were received by relatives and friends, by the 
citizens of Providence and the neighboring towns, by the 
Governor of the State and the citizen soldiery of Rhode 
Island, we leave for the newspapers of that date to relate 
and incorporate it in this history. 

By way of recapitulation we add : The Eleventh Rhode 
Island entered its country's service in a time of need. It 
honorably discharged all the duties the government imposed 
upon it. At no time was it reprimanded for unfaithfulness 
in the performance of duty, hut. on the contrary, received 
the hearty commendation of the division commanders under 
whose orders it served. It was in the outposts of Washing- 
ton when Stewart's cavalry raided at will around our lines, 
and it was not their fault that lie was not stopped in his dar- 
ing career. We have credible information that it saved to the 
government two thousand soldiers while guarding the Con- 
valescent Camp, a duty as arduous, as disagreeable, and as 
inglorious as a regiment could be put to. but as necessary to 



196 HISTORY OF THE 

l»c performed as the storming of a battery. It fulfilled all 
the duties required of it at the siege of Suffolk, building 
earthworks, supporting batteries, and in the trenches. It 
performed its part in two expeditions to the Blackwater 
river, and in one of these made a march of six days in the 
intensest heat of a summer sun with the fortitude of soldiers 
long in the service. It was prompt and energetic in every 
movement, and showed its fighting qualities in its skirmish- 
ing with the enemy in the Blackwater raids ; the only 
opportunity offered it in the whole period of its enlistment. 

Its share in crushing the rebellion was unique, but with- 
out its record the history of Rhode Island in the Rebellion 
would be incomplete. As each individual in the Grand 
Army of the Republic, if faithful to his vows and to his 
country, performed an honorable duty in the great work of 
saving the Union, so the Eleventh Rhode Island bore its 
proper part among the thousands of regiments who battled 
for that glorious flag, that, washed and renewed in the blood 
of heroes, blessed by Heaven in its triumphant career, shall 
henceforth and evermore represent Liberty indeed. 

The regiment were mustered out of the service of the 
United States and paid off on Monday, the 13th day of 
July. In the Appendix will be found the roster of the 
regiment, and some other matter which could not be procured 
in time for the body of this work. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 197 

RECEPTION OF THE ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 

[From the Providence Journal. July 7th.] 

The Eleventh regiment, Col. Church, arrival home yesterday 
afternoon, from their nine months" service in the army of the United 
States. The boat, that was expected at daylight, did not arrive 
until two o'clock, and its appearance was hailed with huge delight 
by the thousands who had waited in the vicinity of the dock ever 
since the sunrise bell broke upon their uneasy slumbers. 

Col. Paine's regiment was <»n hand to receive the returning vol- 
itnteers as they debarked, and upon the formation of the line on 
Beneiit street, after a marching salute, proceeded to escort them 
through the principal streets to the inspiring notes of the American 
Bra>s Band. 

Everywhere along the line the returned soldiers were greeted 
with loud huzzas from sidewalks closely parked, and floral offei 
were showered upon them by fair hands from the windows of num- 
berless mansions. Flags were floating from every flag-staff, and 
every honor and attention was shown to our soldier-friends. 

The route of march terminated in Exchange Place, that at four 
o'clock was one dense mass of humanity, each individual of which 
seemed anxious to extend a closer and warmer greeting to some 
son or brother, or perhaps - ne still dearer, in the ranks of the 

bronzed soldiers of the Eleventh. After the halt. His Excellency 
Gov. Smith welcomed home the regiment in a neat speech, substan- 
tially as follows : 

■• I am most happy to welcome you. Col. Church, your officers and 
command', to Rhode Island again, and thank you in the name of 
the State for your noble defence of our country. 

"I do not feel at liberty to detain you longer at this time, as you 
must be anxious to visit your homes; and I notice other gentlemen 
present who desire to address you, and therefore will only say. once 
more. God bless you! We thank you and welcome you to our quiet 
Stat-." 

Col. Church responded to the kind words of His Exeellenry as 
follows: 

•• We owe you a debt of no ordinary gratitude for this warm wel- 
come home, but that feeling which flows from the wild extremes of 
a .-oldier"s nature — gratitude the purer from its rough surroundings. 

■• We feel already amply repaid foi the fatigue? and dangers of 
war. in the con- :ious pride of having done our duty to our country 



198 HISTORY OF THE 

in this life-struggle for nationality. We could not well feel other- 
wise when we ('(insider that from the breasts of New England 
mothers we nursed that heroic spirit which renders Rhode Island 
prowess famous on every bloody field of the war. Conscious in 
every contest that, Spartan-like, no Rhode Island mother would 
welcome home a son who had not done his duty to his coun- 
try, we have preferred to court rather than shun dangers; but 
yet, while battling tor an undivided land, we are no* unmindful of 
the sad fact that it is that most horrible of strife — civil warfare. In 
common with us, our brothers of the south, shoulder to shoulder, 
left their bloody footprints upon the frozen snows of the Revolution. 
Now, how sadly changed! Wily and ambitious leaders rule their 
councils, and have pushed the war with such fearful energy that 
the whole land, from the ocean shore to the granite ribs of our 
Rocky Mountains, trembles for the solution of the problem— a slave 
Empire or an undivided Republic. 

"If we are hut true to ourselves this terrible struggle must end 
in the complete overthrow of the rebellion. Peace by compromise 
is hut another term for a future bloody deluge more fearful than 
the present. The crushing of the rebellion must be absolute ; rather 
than see it otherwise, I, for one, would welcome the union of the 
Atlantic and Pacific over our once happy America. . 

"Again, in the name of the Eleventh Rhode Island Volunteers, 
let me thank the people of Rhode Island fortius enthusiastic recep- 
tion. A thousand times you repay our Avarlike toils; and a thou- 
sand happy memories shall, in the future, cling around our hearts 
when we remember this 'welcome home.' " 

A generous collation, provided by L. H. Humphreys, in Railroad 
Hall, was then partaken by the troops, with a zest by no means 
impaired by prolonged fasting. 

The regiment returns in excellent condition, with eight hundred 
and thirty-eight enlisted men, and thirty-eight officers; leaving 
behind, fifty-five men in hospitals, one commissioned officer on 
detatched service, and three privates. Fifteen or twenty of those 
who came on were sick. During the term of service there have 
been only six deaths. 

After the collation, the regiment marched to the Fall River Iron 
Works Company's building, deposited their equipments, and were 
then dismissed till Thursdav morning at eight o'clock. 



eleventh regiment. 199 



"From the Providence Evening Press, July Tth.] 

The Eleventh regiment arrived at Fox Point on the steamer John 
Rice, Capt. Reason, shortly before two o'clockthis afternoon* The 
news of the event spread rapidly, and almost immediately an 
immense crowd of people assembled to welcome the returned sol- 
diers, taking the place of those who. fatigued by long waiting, had 
left the wharf. 

The regiment disembarked without any delay. Cheers and wav- 
ing of handkerchiefs testified the delight of the multitude at their 
return. They come back eight hundred and seventy-six strong — 
eight hundred and thirty-eight enlisted men and thirty-eight com- 
missioned officers. The regiment has. during its campaign, lost 
sixty by discharge and six more by death. It has fifty-five mem- 
bers now in the general hospital. One commissioned officer is Com- 
missary on Gen. Gordon's staff, and three men besides are detatched. 
Twenty-five sick men came on on board the propeller, including 
two commissioned officers. 

The regiment was received on Benefit street by Col. Paine's regi- 
ment and escorted through Benefit, Meeting, North Main. V. 
minster. Broad, and Exchange streets to Exchange place. 

A collation was served in Railroad Hall. His Excellency Gov. 
Smith addressed the regiment as follows: 

•"Iain most happy to welcome you. Col. Church, your offi 
and command, to Rhode Island again, and thank you in the name 
of the State for your noble defence of our country. I do not feel at 
liberty to detain you longer at this time, as you must lie anxious to 
visit your homes, and I notice other gentlemen present who d< - 
to address you. and therefore say once more. God bless you, we 
thank you and welcome you to our cpiiet State." 

Col. Church made a felicitous response. The collation was par- 
taken with a keen relish. The regiment then marched to the Fall 
River Iron Works building, deposited their arms and equipments, 
and were dismissed till Thursday morning, at eight o'clock, when 
it is expected they will be mustered out of service. 

* July 6th. 



200 HISTORY of tup: 



[From the Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle of July 10th.] 

The Eleventh Rhode Island regiment arrived home from their 
nine months' service, on Monday last. They were handsomely 
received in Providence, where a collation had been provided for the 
occasion. After partaking of the refreshments the regiment relieved 
themselves of their arms and equipments, and were dismissed until 
yesterday morning. 

The meeting at the Town Hall, Pawtucket, on the evening of the 
3d instant, appointed an efficient committee to make arrangements 
for the reception in this place of Company B, of the Eleventh, 
Capt. Thrasher. These arrangements were made to include Com- 
pany F, Capt. Taft. The companies were expected on Monday 
last, hut there was uncertainty as to what hour they would arrive, 
and the Home Guard and officers of the Light Guard were dressed 
and in waiting for them a considerable portion of the day. They 
arrived at the depot a little before six o'clock, and were greeted 
with artillery, the ringing of bells, and other demonstrations of 
respect and kindness. After the visual reception, a line was formed 
and moved through the principal streets, including a march to Cen- 
tral Falls and back. Arriving at the armory, a bountiful collation 
was riartaken of, and then — with excellent judgment, we thought — 
the companies were dismissed without being detained to listen to 
speeches, toasts, or anything of the kind. We think it was more 
their desire to be relieved from military discipline, get to their 
homes and rest, and receive the greetings of those from whom they 
had so long been separated, than to be the recipients of any farther 
public attentions. It is proper to add that in marching through the 
streets they were greeted with cheers, the waving of handkerchiefs, 
and so forth. 

The men are very much bronzed by their exposure to a southern 
sun, but generally appear to be in good health. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



201 



zlPPEXDIX. 



Roster of the Regiment. 



FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. 



Colonels. 
Edwin Metcalf, 
Horatio Rogers, Jr., 
George E. Church. 

Lieutenant Colonel. 
J. Talbot Pitman. 

Major. 

Nathan F. Moss. 

Adjutant. 
Robert Fessenden. 

Quartermaster. 
Henry S. Olney. 

Surgeon. 
Thomas W. Perry. 



Assistant Surgeons. 
George H. Taft, 
Joseph W. Grosvenor. 

Chaplain. 
J. B. Gould. 

Sergeant Majors. 
John Pitman, Jr., 
Charles H. Scott. 

Quartermaster Sergeant. 
Samuel W. Tillinghast. 

Commissary Sergeant. 
James Zimmerman. 

Hospital Steward. 
* Jacob S. Per year, Jr. 



* Those whose names are marked with a * died in the service. 



202 



1IISTOKY OF THE 



Captains. 
James II. Allen, 
William II. Aver. 

First Lieutenants. 
William II. A\ er, 
Frank R. I >ennis. 

Second Lieutenant 1 . 
William E. Clarke, 
[ra B. Wilson. 

Sergeants. 
William T. Luther, 
Samuel Grafton, 
Henry K. Potter, 
Frank Taf1 , 
Thomas Read. 

\il;uiis, ( reorge 1 1. 
Babcock, Henry M 
Bernhard, William 
Bowen, Andrew 
Bowen, William G. 
Bolej , Jacob 
Bradley, Michael 
Bradford, Edward F. 
Brandley, John 
Brown, < reorge J. 
Briggs, Edmund 
Butts, James I'., Jr. 
Ihitts, Horace R. 
Brown, Thomas 1 1. 
Butts, Robert J. 

Bassett, William 

Brown, Thomas II. 
( Jampbell, .lames 
Carder, William II. 
Chappell, William F. 
Chrystal, diaries P. 

< 'lieelle, M ieliael 
( 'larke, .Joseph 1 1 . 



COMPANY A.. 

Corporals. 
James E. Hill, 
James G. Brown, 
Frederic S. Luther, 
Henry W. Taber, 
Frederic A. Studley, 
Ebenezer W. Percival, 
Charles M. Packard, 
.John F. Paine. 

Musicians. 
Edwin R. Burr, 
Edwin .J. Pond. 

Wagoner. 
Michael While. 



Privates. 

('lenience, Henry T. 
Coggeshall, Durfee W. 
( Jollins, Charles 1 1 . 
Conroj , James 

< 'o/./.ens, ( iharles 
Cozzens, Nat haniel W 
Dodge, Mark 
Dunbar, William L. 
I<;\ ans, Henry 

Fish, William II. 
Frankland, William 
Galen, Andrew 

Gifford, Nelson 

Gilmore, Darius 
( roodrich, Jacob M . 

< loll'. Pardon ( \ . 

( i-oulding, James 
Grant, < 1-eorge W. 
Graves, Joseph N. 
( rallan, -John (!. 

< iril'tin, .lames S. 
Griffin, .John II. 

( riirneVj Eugene P. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



203 



Hi:: r. 

i, Robert W. 

a r 
Hopk - J f . 

Jefferson, Walter T. 
Johnson, E . ' in L. 
en, Will 
oard, John 
Leonard, Lloyd F. 
Little. Thou. 

. E ard 
McCaffrey, John 
Midland, Th< 

. renzo T. 
Pe< :-.-. John F. 

Charles Jf. 
Potts, Jeremiah 



tin Jf. 

W. D. 

H. 
rin If. 
W. 

i 

...■< .. If-:.. 
Shu:.. I I ight 

I . U. 
. John 
ft, Hiram X. 
Swift. David - 

Lerick F. 
Tapf-. Richard J. 
Thurber, Robert B. 
Trenm William ff. 
Whipple . O. 



Captain. 
Charles W. Thrasher. 

First Lieutenant. 
Thomas M< 

.,<•/ "Lieutenants. 
I Bnsh, 
William T. Lnther. 

Sergeo. 
Edmnnd Crocker, 

Chai - ott. 

James N. Woodard, 

John ft. Anderson, 
George J. Fairbrother. 

ArmstroB _ ■ .A. 
B __-. Nathan L. 
Bennett George <;. 
r. Ansel 

BinforJ. i. - 



< O.MFA.VV B. 

Corporals. 
- ( shman, 
Jos ; rison. 

Francis S. Shot 
David :. 

aie, 
George W. Good a 
Hamlet Wheaton. 

Musicians. 
Ornam L. Patt, 

*Frank M. B 

W'/f/', ,,1-r. 
William D. Jillson. 

Privati 

.'el 
Braman, Henry T. 
Briggs, William If. 
Edward A. 
llahan, Thorn 



204 



HISTORY OF THE 



Caler, Jasper 
Carpenter, James D. 
Cavanagh, Patrick, 
Cassidy, Michael 
Church, James J. 
Clark, Nicholas P. 
Clark. Joseph H. 
Cook, Warren F. 
Coyle, James 
Crow ell, Edward 
Curran, James 
Dolan, Thomas 
Daly, John P. 
Dexter, Andrew J. 
Duff, Robert 
Elliott, George E. 
Elshree', William F. 
Fales, J. Henry 
Follett, Henry A. 
Follett, William B. 
Forsyth, William 
Fuller, James 
Fuller, Theodore C. 
Gatchell, James L. 
Griffin Charles E. 
Grover, Stephen A. 
Halvorson, Canute A. 
Holland, Charles C. 
Hood, Joseph E. 
Horton, William M. 
Hutchinson, Henry A. 
Hennessey, Michael 
Jenks, Frank 
Johnson, Byron R. 
Kelley, Ezra M. 
Killoran, Michael 



Kno, Peter 
Lewis, James H. 
Lillihridge, David R. 
Lindsey, Thomas H. 
Malum, Barney 
Maker, Nathan P. 
Mann, Gilbert 
McNalley, Barney 
Moies, Charles P. 
McCormick, Edward 
McCormick, John 
Mulharen, James 
McCreighan, John 
Nickle, Robert 
Neill, John J. 
Nickerson, Ansel D. 
O'Donnell, William 
*Pervear, Jacob S., Jr. 
Pitcher, Charles E. 
Phillips, J. Henry 
Phillips, Levi C. 
Provost, Joseph 
Read, Abel 
Rice, Thomas 
Rogers, David N. 
Sharpe, Henry S. 
Sprague, Daniel R. 
Sweetland, Edward 
Trainer, Michael 
Verry, Daniel E. 
Vickery, Philip 
Warburton, Percival D. 
W'elsh, Redman 
White, Thomas S. 
Williams, Henry J. 
Wilmarth. Charles H. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT, 



205 



Captain, 
Charles H. Parkhurst. 

First Lieutenants. 
William A. Jami s 
William E. Clarke. 

/Second Lieutenants. 
Seth W. Cowing, 

Albert G. Bar - 

Sergeants. 
James F. Davison, 
George A. Kendall. 
Joseph E. Handy, 
Samuel B. T. Crandall, 
Ira B. Wilson. 



Adams. Samuel B. 
Aldrich, . Orlin S. 
Alexander, Alanson 
Andrews, William 
* At wood, William 
Bardsley, Robert 
Brasslin, James 
Brown, Charles W. 
Buchanan, James 
Burroughs, Samuel X 
Cassels, Francis 
Charles, Peter 
Corcoran, John 
Craig, James A. 
Cravin, Michael 
Coughlin, Michael 
Dolan, Patrick 
Donnelly, John 
Dorrance. George H. 
Eddy. Byron 
Fanning, George M. 
Gannon, Robert 
Glasheen, Edward 
18 



< lOMPANY < 

Corporals. 
Enoch F. Hoxie, 
Joseph H. Cheetham, 
Frank B. Mott, 
Herbert Phillips, 
Orrin S. Pond, 
Edwin R. Simmonds, 
Moses S. Eldridge, 
Joseph Smith. 

Musicians. 

Frank H. Williams. 
Asher H. Young. 

Wagoner. 

Henry Bond. 

Privates. 

Gordon, John F. 

Gordon, Samuel S. 

Gorman, Matthew 

Gorman, Bartlett 

Guild, Joseph W. 

Handy. Jacob B. 

Heck. John B. 

Horton, Royal D. 

Hudson, James R. X. 

Hudson, Thomas D. 

Johnson, Frederic D. 
Johnson, Hugh 
Johnson, William A. 
King. John 
Kelley. Thomas 
Lewis, Benjamin 
Lincoln, Roger L. 
Lyons, John 
McCanna, James 
McCune, James 
McGuire, Thomas 
M.Ginley. Patrick 
McQueena, Terence 



206 



HISTORY OF THE 



Mitchell, Samuel N. 
Morse, Edwin] 
Mott, Eugene A. 
Monroe, Orin F. 
Murphy, James 
Murphy, James 
O'Connell, Michael 
Perry, Edwin 
Pierce, Philip D. 
Plimpton, Silas W., Jr. 
Potter, Welcome A. 
Quarters, Joseph 
Randall, Albert 
Redding, James 
Richards, John W. 
Salisbury, William B. 
Searle, William H. 
Senft, Lawrence 



Sheridan, Robert 
Simmons, Levi 
Shippee, George 
Snow, Daniel C. 
Stapleton, Richard 
Streeter, Orville D. 
Talbot, Lewis A. 
Tourtellott, William N. 
Thiel, William 
Thomas, Russell N. 
Thurston, Clark 
Thornton, Reuben L. 
Updike, Edward A. 
Verry, George 
Verry, John 
Walker, Lewis O. 
Ward, James 
Wilson, Charles 



Thomas W 



Captain. 
Gorton, Jr 



First Lieutenant. 
John E. Bradford. 

Second Lieutenants. 
Caleb B. Harrington, 
William A. Champlin. 

Sergeants. 
Albert G. Bates, 
Siles A. Winchester, 
Joseph W. Padelford, 
Jedediah F. Trask. 



Abbott, Chester C. 
Aldrich, George 
Allen, William 
Atkinson, John 
Austin, Stephen A. 



Company D. 

Corporals. 
Isaac Weaver, 
Edward Atkinson, 
Andrew J. Perry, 
Philip W. Kelley, 
William H. Rounds, 
Jared O. Harrington, 
Franklin Munroe, Jr., 
George H. Harding. 

Musicians. 
Henry Miller, 
Edwin D. Freeman. 

Wagoner. 
Daniel C. Dore. 

Privates. 

Barrows, William H. 
Bezeby, Edwin A. 
Bissell, John G. 
Brownell, Benjamin F. 
Brown, Edward L. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



207 



Brown, John A. 

Bissbee, Ezra 

Briggs, Edwin A. 

Burt, Edwin, Jr. 

Carr, Isaac 

Cooney, John 

Cornell, Edward A. 

Drury, Michael 

Dobbs, William H. 

Eddy, James B. 

Emerson, George S. 

England, William J. 

Fales, Orlando 

Fenner, Alexander W 

Fish, Spencer 

Fowler, Joseph G. 

Frost, Frank 

Gavin, Edward 

Goodwin, Edward C. 

Green, Henry F. 

Hawkes, David B. 

Hawkes, Augustus E. 
Hopkins, William H. 
Hopkins, Henry W. 
Hurd, Samuel D. 
Inman, Olney 
Jennison, Thomas H. 
Jennison, Thomas 
Johnson, John E. 
King, Thomas 
Kelton, Nathan A. 
Kelly, James 
Lawson, Andrew 
Leavitt, Henry F. 
Luther, Edwin S. 
Manchester, George F. 
McManamon, Joseph 



McMahon, Alexander 

McManas, John 

Merrill, William H. 

Mooney, William E. 

Munroe, Edmund J. 

Mumford, George A. 

Phinney, JohnD. 

Pettis, George A. 

Peck, William A. 

Place, Elisha 

Plimpton, William 

Randall, Charles F. 

Randall, George W. 

Richards, Porter W. 

Richards, J. W. 

Sedgewick, William 
Seamans, Frank 
.Seekell, Thomas H. 
Searle, Albert L. 
Senft, Charles F. 
Smith, Joseph L. 
Sprague, George H. 
Stone, Daniel J. 
Taylor, Samuel H. 
Thurber, Ephraim 
Walsh, Peter 
Washburn , A. Judson 
Walton, William 
Wiley, William A. 
Wiley, Charles F. 
Williams, Alonzo 
Wyman, William J. 
Wilkinson, Pliny E. 
Young, Alexander 
Yeaw, David A. 
Young, Joseph 



208 



HISTORY OF THE 



Company E. 



Captains. 
Hopkins B. Cady, 
Albert C. Howard, 
William A. James. 

First Lieutenants. 
James S. Hudson, 
William Stone. 

Second Lit utenants. 
Frank R,. I hnuis, 
Nathan T. Robinson. 

«S'< rgeants. 
Nathan T. Robinson, 
Nathan E. Irving, 
James E. Slocum, 
Frank Holden, 



Aldricb, James L. 
Aldrich, Thomas 
Brooks, Joseph D. 
Burke, Davis C. 
Baker, Samuel S. 
Barber, Robert F. 
Burlingame, Sanford 
Briggs, David S. 
Budlong, Samuel, Jr. 
Bishop, John 
Byron, Theodore J. 
Cutting, George W. 
Conley, James 
Comstock, Jonathan P. 
Codding, Melvin E. 
Darling, Edward E. 
Day, Elisha H. 
Dan forth, Ephraim S. 
Dodge, William T. 
Fi nnegan , E< I w a r< I 
Fanning, John 

Field, Lemuel 



James Morning, Jr. 

( 'orporals. 
Christopher A. Cady, 
Elijah Russell, 
John Sawyer, 
William 1 1 . Packard, 
Nelson E. Blaekmar, 
Albert A. Hawkins, 
George W. Lindsey, 
Charles II. Burt. 

Musicians. 
Allien Burke, 
Albert H. Williams. 

Wagoner. 
William H. Leonard. 

Privates. 

French, James S. 
Fenner, Hezekiah D. 
Farnum, Joseph W 
Ghirardini, John H. 
Gardner, Charles W. 
Gaddis, Thomas J. 
Hadfield, Charles 
Healy, Almeron 
Hines, Patrick 
Healy, James 
[de, Hiram T. 
Irwin, Henry 
K el ley. I Daniel 
Knight, Jeremiah ('. 
Knott, James E. 
Kenney, James II . 
Luscomb, William 1 1 . 
Lucas, A Ihert I>. 
Lord. John 

Luther. William 1L, Jr. 
Lamb, George R. 
Lewis. George W. F. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



209 



Manchester. Thomas A. 
Mills, Charles A. 
Martiii. John, Jr. 
Mitchell, William 
Mitchell, Thomas 
Morrill. Tappan W. 
Moffit, William 
Newman, John < '. 
Norton. Samuel W. 
Northup, Horatio X. 
O'Neal, Eohert 
Pierson, John 
Potter, John A. 
Pray, Albert G. 
Price, Ellery W. 
Eice, Charles H. 
Simmons, William 
Sherman, Benjamin F. 
Sweetland, Nathan J. 
Slocum, Amasa 



Captain, 

Edward Taft. 

First Lieutenant. 

James S. Hudson. 

Second Lieutenant 
Henri E. Bacon. 

Sergeants. 

Edward P. Davis, 
Julius J. Bos worth, 
Thomas Rankin, 
George C. Hall, 
Charles A. Gardner. 



Alexander, George H. 
Ameshury, Samuel J. 
Armstrong, Ezra 
Baker, Kingsley 



Sherman. William 11. 
Sherman, William H., 2d 
Sherman, Joh W. 
Sweet, Charles A. 
Sprague, James H. 
Stanton, William O. 
Sunderland. Daniel A. 
Sumner, George 
Taylor. Albert X. 
Taylor. William H. 
Tanner, Richard D. 
Tennant Daniel R. 
Tripp, William H. 
Vallett, Gilbert P. 
Wilkins, Edward M. 
Whipple, Brown 
White. William if. 
Wilbur, George W. 
Wilson, William A. 



Company F. 

Corporcils. 

John A. Rupert, 
William Major, 
Thomas Horton. 
Frederic S. Fisher, 
Adin Patten, Jr. 
Nelson J. Cnmrnings, 
Geo rgt- S. Pierce, 
J. Newton Hunt. 

Musicians. 

Charles F. Read. 
Ira S. Pendergras>. 

Wagoner. 

William Earle. 

Privates. 

Branch, Daniel S. 
Braley, Benjamin S. 

Brown, Greenleaf 
Bowen, Sammd < '. 



210 



HISTORY OF THE 



Bowen, Hartford 
Bunker, Joseph S. 
Brien, .John 0. 
Benedict, John <■'. 
Carlin, Michael 
Carroll, Owen 
Campbell, Andrew 
disc, William 1 1 
Chapman, Joel 
Chadsey, Robert S. 
Cole, Samuel D. 
Coyle, Jolm 
Devine, William P. 
Dunn, Charles 
Evans, Albert G. 
Emerson, Edward 
Follett, .John W. 
Foster, Samuel 
Gardiner, William l>. 
Graham, John S. 
Gridley, William -I 
Hogg, Alexander 

Hoel, Welcome S. 

1 1 [orton, Rensselaer 
Hoy1 . John 
Humes, William T. 

Jackson, .lames 

Jenks, Phanuel B. 
.Johnson. Barnard 
Jones, Oliver 
Kennedy, James 

Keene, Asa A. 

Kennedy, Joseph 
Locklin, Thomas 
Lambert, .John 
Lovely, George 
Lynch. David S. 
Mansir, Alden 



M<-( roughey, Joseph 
Mc( rleenan, Frank 
Mel lough, Thomas 
Mil rrath, Michael 
McKindley, Samuel 
McKinsey, I >aniel 

McMann, .John 

McNulty, Patrick 

Monis, Henry .J . 
Mowry, Gilherl 

Mowry, Horace B. 
Mowry. Elhanan 
Miller, John S. 
Northup. William II. 
Xuttall. .James 
O'Gorman, Michael H. 
Oatley, Frank .1. 
Oldenburg, George F. 
O'Brien, John 
Pilkington, .John 
Payson, < diaries (i . 
Parker, l Friah < ! . 
Perry. Henry C. 
Porritt, Samuel 
Powers. Michael 
Potter, Charles E. 
Perkins, Horace 
Rankin, .James 
Read, John 
Sandford, Joseph M 
Sullivan, Timothy 
Thatcher, William 
Westgate, William 

White, William ('. 
White, Samuel E. 
White, Edwin 
Wood, .John I; 



ELEVENTH REGEM EXT. 



211 



Captain. 

Amos G. Thomas. 

First Lieutenants. 

Joseph T. Snow, 
Charles S. Mathewson. 

Second Lieutenanti 
Charles S. Mathewson. 
Amos < Iross. 

Sergeants. 

James H. Sweet, 
John H. Peck. 
Oliver P. Coggeshall, 
George W. Guild, 
Daniel G. Briggs. 

Allen, Anderson 
Baxter. Nathan 
Bickerton, Charles 
Biekuell, Hosea 
Brown, John C. 
Burns, Patrick 
Bruce, Uriah V. 
Brasley. Neil 
Card, William 
Cornel], Joseph H. 
Conway, John 
Connefry, William 
Cooper, Henry 
Cox, John W. 
Dailey, John 
Deery, John 
Drum, William 
Dolan Frank 
Donelson, William 
Dyer, Philip 
Gorton, Nathan C. 
Crimes, Thomas 
Gorton, Elihu 
Gormley, Peter 



Company <J. 

Corporals. 
James F. Fletcher, 
Isaac H. Pinckney, 

William L. Smith, 
Edwin A. Towne, 
< reorge Rounds. 
James M. Hitchcock, 
Samuel Burr, 
Frank R. Dixon. 

Musicians. 

H. D. S. Voung, 
Abner K. Miller. 

Wagoner. 
Darius T. Morse. 

Trivates. 

Green, James M. 
Harrison, Richard 
Hazard, John R. 
Hazard. Walter C. 
Holson. Walter 
Holden, Thomas 
Holding, Edward 
Horr, Edward P. 
Howarth, John 
Johnson, Ephraim 
Kaighin, Charles T. 
Kelley, John 
Kent, Allen 
Kent, George E. 
Kearney, James 
Leach, William A. 
Leonard, William H. 
McDonough, John 
Munster. Franz 
McCartin, Edward 
Murtaugh, James 
McLaughlin, Frank 
McAvoy, John 
McCarthy, Jeremiah 



212 



HISTORY OF THE 



McCluer, Robert 
McCluer, William 
McDonald, John 
Monahan, Michael 
Murray, Thomas F. 
McCoy, Thomas 
Orswell, .John 
O'Donncll, James 
Plunkett, Michael 
Reynolds. John 2nd 
Riley, Michael 
Reynolds, Michael 
Reiley, Owen 
Reiley, Thomas 
Roeske, Frederick 
Reynolds, John M. 
Ryan, John 
Ryan. John, 2nd 



Sherman, Thomas 
Shader, William 
Shawcross, James 
Slavcn, Hugh 
Small, John 
Smith, Patrick 
Snell, Thomas 
Spencer, George 
Stewart, James 
Sweeny, William 
Sweeny, Joseph 
Taft, John 
Taylor, John D. W 
Viall, Cassius 
Walsh, Michael 
Webber, Franz 
Wiley, James 
Wolff, John 



Captains. 
Nathan F. Moss, 
Joel Metcalf, Jr. 

First Lieutenants. 
Joel Metcalf, Jr. 
Edwin H. Burlingame, 

Daniel Bush. 

Second Lieut ennui*. 
William A. Champlin, 
Edward K. Thompson. 

Sergeants. 

Edward K. Thompson, 
George O. Taylor, 
Michael L. Costello, 
Benjamin T. Marble, 

Agin, Patrick 
Angell, Frederic F. H. 

Ballon, Henry 11. 



Company H. 

diaries H. Bartlett. 

Corporals. 
George N. Capron, 
Joseph Coville, 
William M. Crandall, 
Frederic Hawkins, 
Arnold G. Horton, 
John McEnnery, 
Christopher Weeden, 
Horace L. Angell. 

Musicians. 
George H. Bucklin, 
George W. Mathewson. 

Wagoner i 
Thomas Mulvey. 

Privates. 

Barry, Stephen A. 
Bates, Judson A. 
Baxter, John 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



213 



Bid mead, Edward 
Boyle, Hugh H. 
Branch, Joseph 
Buckley, John 
Burdiek, Edward 
Campbell, David R. 
Carr, Michael 
Chace, Caleb B. 
Collins, Owen 
Cox, James 
Crowell, George T. 
Crowell, Theophilus 
Cummings, James 
Curley, Michael 
Dean, William H. 
Donnelly, Charles H. 
Donnelly, Francis 
Donohoe, Michael 
Field, Joseph 
Fitten, Richard 
Franklin, George W. 
Galena, John 
Gallaghan, Thomas 
Graham, Henry 
Graham, William 
Hamilton, James 
Hazard, Dennis 
Healey, Joseph 
Hunter, William M. 
Landy, Edward 
Lane, Joseph M. 
Lothrop, James P. 
Luther, Alfred W. 
Magee, James 
Mahan, Daniel 
Mason, William C. 
Masterson, John W. 
MeCann, John 
McElroy, John, 1st 



McElroy, John, 2nd 
NcDonnell, John 
McMahon, Cornelius 
Miller, William O. 
Miner, Hazard H. 
Mitchell, John 
Moore, George W. 
Morris, Joseph W. 
Mullen, Peter 
*Northup, Gardner 
O'Brien, James 
O'Hare, Andrew J. 
O'Neal, John 
O'Neal, William 
Peekham, Simeon 
Randall, James W. 
Reed, Josiah 
Riley, Luke 
Royle, John T. 
Scott, James 
Shcenck, Henry 
Short, John 
Simons, Albert G. 
Simons, Joseph R. 
Simmons, Isaac I. . 
Smith, Job A. 
Smith, John W. 
Smith, Simon F. 
Smith, Thomas 
Smith, William E. 
Sulley, Abraham 
Sullivan, Daniel 
Tiernay, Michael W. 
Thorp, John W. 
Walsh, James 
Walsh, William F. 
Weeden, Samuel 
Young, Amos 



214 



HISTORY OF THE 



( aptain. 
Joseph II. Kendrick. 

First Lieutenants. 

Albert C. Howard, 

Joseph T. Snow. 

Second Lieutenants 
Edwin II. Burlingame, 
Orville M. Remington. 

Sergeants. 
John B. Kelley, 
Orville M. Remington, 
Nathaniel W. Slocum, 
Fayette P. Brown, 
Charles M. Smith. 

Adams, George W. 
Angell, Henry S. 
Anthony, Henry J. 
Armington, Eliphalet J. 
Ashley, Joseph J. 
Atwater, Edward W. 

Ballou, Charles 0. 

Barker, Alfred IT. 
Barrett, Charles E. 
*Bliss, Franklin S. 
Boyle, Nelson 
Brown, Alexander 
Capron, Edward H. 
Carpenter, A braham A. 
♦Carpenter, J. Marshall 
Case, Dudley W. 
( Shase, John EL, -Jr. 
Clarke, James F. 
*Clarke, William B. 
Cooke, Frank (J. 
Cooke, Henry 
Cranston, ( reorge H. 
Darling, < reorge B. 
Darling, Samuel 
I >a\ enporl , Samuel C. 



( 'OMPANY I. 

Corporals. 

Henry E. Simmons, 
John C. Thompson, 
John R. Read, 
Daniel R. Allen, 
( J-eorge II . Sparhaw k, 
.John A. Reynolds, 
George S. Bowen, 
Edward C. Coggeshall. 

Musicians. 
A mos I). Smith, 
Hiram F. Matthews. 

Wagoner. 
Lafayette Burdick. 

Privates. 

I >exter, Benjamin 
1 Ungwell, .lames 
Ding well, Thomas 
Dodge, George A. 
Durfee, Charles A. 
Evans, Barak 
Fuller, John B. 
( ray, Frederick A. 
( S-reene, Charles B. 
Hall, George W. 
Halliwell, Thomas 
Harlow, Calvin M. 
Hawkes, I'hilo 
Henrys, William R. 
Hunt, Joshua M. 
Irons, Gilbert A. 
Jacobs, James C. 
Kentneld, John 
Knapp, George A. 
Leonard, Charles R. 
Luther, Jonathan 1>. 
McKay, William A. 
McCausland, Norman L. 
Medbury, George W. 
Metcalf, Alfred P. 



ELEVENTH REG I M ENT . 



215 



Metcalf, Edward A. 
Meyer, Hermann F. 
Miller, Edward C. 
Miller, George F. 
Northup, Nathaniel C. 
Patterson, John H. 
Paull, Albert M. 
Peek, James I). 
Potter, William K. 
Remington, Edwin 8. 
Remington, George H. 
Saunders, George A. 
Saunders. Robert. 
Shaw. Henry B. 
Sherman, Remington 
Sherman, Charles A. 



Shiere, Peter 
Simmons, William E. 
Smith, Arthur W. 
Stevens, Louis V. R. 
Sturdevant, Harvey 
Sumner, James J. 
Sumner, Oliver 
Talbot, Georg.- A. 
Thurber, Samuel 
Tillinghast; George W. 
Tingley. Hartford B. 
Tingley, Xenophon D. 
White, Thomas W. 
Wing. John 
Winsor, Sirrell, Jr. 
Zerega, John T. 



Company K. 



( aptain, 

William A. Mowry. 

First Lieutenants. 

James T. Edwards. 
Samuel Thurber. 

{Second Lieutenants. 

William Stone, 
Samuel Thurber, 
John Pitman, Jr. 

Sergeants. 

William W. Thompson, 
John P. Pond. 
Daniel J. Viall, 
William H. Hedley, 
Myron S. Clark. 

Armington, William W. 
Arnold, Owen S. 
Barbour, Henry S. 
Bates, William 
Bates, William P. 



Corporals. 

William E. Millard. 
Orlando P. Thompson. 
Royal E. Jones, 
James, Bowden, 
Joseph E. Brown, 
George Chace, 
Aug. W. Winsor, Jr., 
Robert Lander. 

Musicians. 
George A. Tanner, 
Charles W. Osborn. 

Wagoner. 

Joseph R. Williams. 



Privates. 

Baker, Ermin 
Bell, Jonathan E. 
Biggins, Henry 
Blanohard, John H. 
Borden, Charles L. 



216 



IIISTopY OF THE 



Bowen, William II. 
J Id we li. William S. 
Briggs. George N. 
Buisnow, Francis 
Butler. William .1. 

< lhace, Albert H. 

< !hace, Matthew A. 
( !ornell, William L. 
Collins, John 
Collins, George W. 
Dexter, Charles II. 
Fisher, Henry 

( rerlack, < Jharles 
( rerlack, Otto 
Green, Albert R. 
Green, Henry F. 
( rreen, William P. 
Greenmari*, Walter P. 
Goff, Thomas L. 
Goddard, Josiah P. 
( roodspeed, Solomon A. 
Gould, Everett 
(lunii, Richard 
Hall, Edward B. 
Hale, Worcester X. 
I [oward, William H. 
Howarth, Benjamin 
J lowland, Isaac P. 
Howland, Benjamin C. 
Holmes, .lames L. 
Holmes, Frank l> 
Hicks, William F. 
Hull, Edwin 
Kent. George W. 
Kent, William II. 
Lee. Amos 
Peach, Joseph II. 



Leith, Thomas P. 
Lindsey, Malcolm 

Pittle. Pohelt P. 

Pitt le. Christopher 
Lofty, Thomas .1. 
Meegan, Francis 
McKanna, James F. 
Millard, Charles W. 
Murphy, Matthew 
Nye, Henry 
Olney, Elisha P. 
< )sborn, Charles E. 
Palmer, Edward A. 
Patterson, William 
Phillips, George N. 
Pearce, George T. 
Riley, Charles 
Robinson, J [enry ( J-. 
Roe, John 
Rourke, .John C. • 
Selden, Charles 
Sehoenfell, Carl 
Seller, Robert 
Shepley, Edwin 
Snow, Florence F. 
Sutton, William IP IP 
Stone, Amos 
Taylor, Henry F. 
Tel low, James 
Thompson, William 11. 
Townsend, Samuel I. 
Vaughan, Walter P. 1 ). 
Watson, William P. 
Westcott, William IP 
Wilkinson, Edward 
Winsor, Albert W. 



Kecruit. 
M cKenzie, John 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 217 

The Twelfth Regiment. 

" The Twelfth regiment were at this time encamped near Fairfax 
Seminary, and the officers of the Eleventh cordially invited the 
officers of the Twelfth to dine with them on Thanksgiving day. 

" The large log house, used for mess-room by Colonel ami staff, 
for public worship, and for evening school in drill by the officers, 
served for dining-room on this occasion. The Tallies, well laden 
with Rhode Tsland turkeys and ' fixin's,' were surrounded by ahout 
seventy-five officers of the Eleventh and Twelfth sandwiched in 
together, all of whom brought to the repast hungry stomachs and 
willing minds. 

" Ample justice was done to the edihles, and many a story was 
told and joke cracked. All enjoyed the occasion as ;i rare treat. 
The officers of the Twelfth evidently appreciated the hospitality of 
the Eleventh, while those of the Eleventh enjoyed the acquaintance 
of their brethren of the Twelfth/' 

10 



THE END. 





- 

' -'- •> 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






■ ■ 

.......... 

■ 

• . • 

■ ■ 



■ ■ 
■ 

■ 



T 



■ 

i 






- 



- 

- 
■ 

- 

I 
■ 



>] ■ 

■ 

■ 

- 

■ 
i 
I 

■ - 

- 
i 



■ 

■ 



■ • 






